Rock Bottom
by Liv Cassidy
Summary: As Matt travels down the bumpy road to rock bottom after an incident on the job, Sarah fears for the wellbeing of their twin boys. In the meantime, the rest of the Camden clan have their own "issues" they're dealing with. Will Matt redeem himself?
1. Sarah: Intoxicated

_Summary: As Matt travels down the bumpy road to rock bottom after an incident on the job, Sarah fears for the wellbeing of their twin boys. In the meantime, the rest of the Camden family has their own "issues" they're dealing with. Will Matt manage to redeem himself in the right direction to save his family? Or will old faces and his guilt get the best of the Camden family?_

**BEGINNING NOTES:**

:: I initially started this BEFORE seeing the end of Season 11. Thus, my Crossroads is not portrayed as it was on the show. Crossroads to me was just a small town in California with a little church and a few streets. When I started this I didn't know that all of the children were foster children and church took place in a bar.

:: This begins in September 2007

* * *

Rock Bottom

Chapter 1

_Sarah_

Sarah sat with a fellow colleague in the lounge of her office that evening sipping some coffee. The office had closed about a half hour ago, but Sarah was just dreading going home to her husband. Ever since Matt's first medical loss of his own, he just hadn't been the same.

About three weeks ago a pregnant woman, who was about seven months along, came into his office complaining of severe cramps. After examining her, Matt diagnosed that she was losing amniotic fluid rapidly. He had ordered an immediate C-section, knowing there were risks—but the risks of not doing the C-section outweighed the C-section risks.

Needless to say, the baby was born stillborn, and more morbid the mother had suffered a seizure before they could get the chance to stitch her back up. This resulted in her going into a coma. She still had not waken up. Matt took all the blame on himself despite knowing there was nothing else he could have done. The head OB-GYN in his office had ordered him to take a vacation away from work after Matt had been withdrawing on the job. His vacation was only for the best for his patients' health and his mental health.

Sarah had tried to get Matt to see a therapist to talk about his feelings, but he was stubborn. She knew that he needed help, and if he didn't talk to someone he was in grave danger. The other day she had returned from work to see him passed out on the couch with four empty whisky bottles lying on the floor. Their twin sons, Noah and Jacob, had been in their cribs crying with filled diapers and no food. Sarah couldn't believe Matt had stepped so low to drinking. After what he saw his aunt Julie go through, she couldn't imagine how he could step that low.

After that incident, the boys had started staying with a friendly elderly neighbor, Mrs. Gertie Grimm, but they just called her "Mrs. Grimm" out of respect. The boys really liked her and she was good with them. Matt and Sarah hadn't been fans of leaving their boys with non-relatives, but desperate times called for desperate measures. They were living in a small suburban town not far out of New York City in New Jersey. The closest to kin nearby was Matt's sister Mary and her husband Carlos. Mary wasn't the biggest on associating with them though. They had twin daughters, Jenna and Crista, whom were the same age as Noah and Jacob. The boys had only seen their cousins twice and they only lived within a half hour's drive from them. Jenny had been named after Matt and Mary's grandmother who passed away when Matt was sixteen, and Crissy was named after Carlos's great-grandmother whom passed shortly before Carlos's birth. Mary and Carlos were really big on naming their children after deceased relatives. Their oldest son, Charles Miguel, was named after both of their deceased grandfathers. Charlie had turned three last spring.

Mary was only good for getting them plane tickets whenever they needed them, otherwise she didn't want much to do with the family. She considered her close family to be somewhat of an inconvenience to her life. She no longer worked for the airline, but she still had some pretty close friends that did and gave her tickets whenever she asked. Mary was now working at a local high school coaching girl's basketball.

Carlos tried to stay in touch, but with his wife as difficult as she was, he wasn't very successful. Sarah and Carlos had talked about moving back to California where Matt and Mary's family resided. They were both in agreement that it would be good for their children to be near their grandparents. Reverend Camden had been having health problems, and nobody truly knew how much time he had left in him. Supposedly, last spring, his heart problem had "miraculously" disappeared, if one could really believe that. Even though Matt and Sarah both believed in miracles working in their own way, they also knew there could always be a relapse. The whole Californian family had gone on a long RV trip across the western part of the United States this past summer celebrating. They had returned a little over a month ago for two reasons. One, Matt's youngest sister Ruthie needed to get packed for college, and two, his sister Lucy was having some pregnancy complications and needed medical assistance. As of now, she was seven months pregnant and accordingly everything was going well. She was on bed rest again, and from what Sarah had heard it was going like last time.

Ruthie was attending Princeton studying Psychology. She had applied for Princeton after graduating high school and been very fortunate to get in with the time being. Apparently their dad had gone to high school with the dean. Matt and Sarah liked to believe that Ruthie had decided to come out east to be closer to them and her nieces and nephews. She had broken up with her boyfriend T-Bone after realizing on the RV trip that they weren't meant to be together. Due to Ruthie's outstanding grades, she was at Princeton on a full scholarship. They still had only seen her once since moving into the Princeton dorms, though Sarah figured maybe once she settled in more they would see more of her. Sarah knew that Matt talked to her on frequent occasions. However, she didn't know exactly how much he told her. It wouldn't surprise Sarah if Matt told her everything. They did have a strong brother and sister bond.

Matt's parents, Eric and Annie, had decided to move out of the church's home that Matt and his siblings had all grown up in with their youngest boys, Sam and David. They had moved to Crossroads to be near Kevin and Lucy. Lucy was planning on taking over the position of minister at the Crossroads Christian Church as soon as she could get on her feet. In the meantime, Eric was filling in while he was stable.

Then there were her parents, who were still living in Glen Oak. Her father was still the Rabbi at the synagogue. Her parents had only seen the boys once since they were born when they had come up to New Jersey for Hanukah. The boys had only been six months old then; it was hard to believe they were fourteen months old now. So much had happened in the last eight months. They had started walking; they ran all over the house and were into everything. Getting into the pots and pans and banging them around was one of their favorite hobbies.

Sarah had discussed moving back to California with Matt prior to his loss, and then he had been all for it. It was just getting a job in the vicinity that would be the challenge. Matt had been in contact with his Uncle Hastings who had been on the lookout for them. Though, with Ruthie here now, Matt had been hesitant to move, after all she had moved all this way to be near them—or at least that was Matt's belief. Then _it_ had to happen, and Sarah hadn't been able to talk with Matt about anything serious since. He was pretty closed minded now, and he didn't want any of his family to know about his recent fall back habit.

He had promised he would stop, but Sarah knew his promises were too good to be true. She had told him she would leave him if he didn't stop. Over the last few days she hadn't come across any bottles on the floor, but every time she came home with the boys he was sleeping. The boys missed their daddy.

Bridget, her colleague and closest friend, had been great comfort for Sarah during this time. Every night after the office closed they would sit in her office and have a cup of coffee talking about their problems. Bridget had been battling a difficult divorce, so she knew how Sarah felt. Sarah didn't want to divorce Matt, but she didn't want her sons to grow up with a drunken father. She knew Matt was a good man, and she knew that if he could only seek some help he would quit being such a bear.

Before all of this happened, Matt and her had discussed saving the money to open their own practice in California after Dr. Hastings found them temporary assignments. Sarah worried this might never happen now. If Matt couldn't get back on his feet and back to work, she didn't know how this would affect their relationship and her children's. She didn't want to raise the boys on her own, and she would never want to take them away from their Camden relatives. They needed their family. She knew these boys bonded her to the Camden family and Matt for life. Before when they were having marital problems, there was nothing gluing him to her other than their strong desire to prove their parents wrong after getting married and hardly knowing each other. For the longest time, only Ruthie knew their true anniversary—their first date. Of course there was the fact they truly did love each other deep down despite their major differences, the biggest of all of course being: Matt was raised Christian, and she Jewish. He had planned on converting, but he hadn't followed through with that promise. That itself was another problem in itself they had been facing.

She loved her sons, and she loved Matt. Truly, they were a blessing and brought hope to Sarah. The last thing Sarah wanted for her children was to be brought up in a split up dysfunctional family. She wanted her sons to have what Matt and she had had growing up, two loving parents who were always there for them. Sarah hoped that was enough for Matt to sane up. She didn't want her boys to have a drunk for a father. There were a lot of things she didn't want her boys to suffer through, some she might not be able to control based on the situations at hand like: confusion over religion.

Sarah and Matt had been attending a synagogue every Saturday while they were residing in the Northeast. Ever since the boys were born it had become even more of the essence to her for them to get connected with their faith and know the Jewish customs. Back before the boys were born, Matt would always go on "walks" on Sunday mornings. Sarah let it pass, even though she had a feeling he was going to church. It didn't bother her badly, and he had the right to go to church especially since he wasn't converted. After the boys were born he would start taking them out in the stroller on Sunday mornings claiming be taking them on a stroll in the park. It probably shouldn't have bothered her, but it did. She didn't want her sons to be confused on whether they were Jewish or Christian and to savor her parents' insanity, she wanted them to be Jewish like Matt and she had initially agreed. Matt didn't take the boys out on Sundays anymore though, ever since it happened he had no communication with the boys or her.

When the clock struck seven, Sarah came to the acceptance it was best to get on her way home. Mrs. Grimm was a chronic believer in "early to bed, early to rise." She typically was in bed before eight. Once Sarah hadn't gotten there until eight-thirty and Mrs. Grimm and thrown a fit. Granted, she was a sweet lady—but like anyone, when she was tired she could be a little cranky. Mrs. Grimm had kindly asked Sarah to pick the boys up before eight.

Sarah had been so happy to move out of New York City, she really didn't enjoy using public transportation and enjoyed having a car of her own again. It was nice not to have to rely on the subway to take her everywhere. She chuckled to herself as she remembered when Matt had left his medical bag on the subway. A good thing about having your own vehicle was you didn't have to worry about leaving stuff behind or losing it.

Recently she had been enjoying the drive home more than ever. She considered driving to be her "relaxing" time. There was nothing comparable to turning on the radio, listening to some peaceful tunes, and just driving. The only dread in her life right now was parking her vehicle in their drive way.

Fifteen minutes later she parked the car in the straight driveway that lead up to the garage that was separated from their one story story home equipped with two bedrooms. It wasn't large, and it wasn't the typical home one would consider "doctors" to live in, but it was home. Matt had insisted they live small for their first few years of having the "doctor" title. He promised they would be grateful they did in the end. It wasn't like Sarah didn't have money to declare them "financially stable." Sarah had had trust funds and could afford pretty much anything to indulge themselves in that they wanted. Matt insisted frugal was the best way to go especially with the current upcoming economy. It was driving her nuts, but she coped.

Mrs. Grimm lived in a slightly smaller house. From what Sarah had seen from the inside, the rooms were about three quarters of what their home was. Then again, her house wasn't cluttered with toys and other items that had been given as gifts from their many family members. Instead, her house had antiques everywhere. She was really careful of ensuring that nobody touched those antiques either. Sarah had only seen the boys in a playpen that she laid out in her kitchen. It was a good sized playpen too. Mrs. Grimm would lay out blankets, pillows, and a few toys that Sarah brought over for the boys to play with. In the meantime, the elderly lady would sit at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.

Sarah really didn't know what she did when she wasn't there, but she wasn't too concerned. The boys seemed happy to go see Mrs. Grimm each day. They never cried when she left them there. Still, Sarah couldn't wait until they could talk back and tell her about their days. That was one day she really looked forward too, even though they say, "You can't wait for them to talk, then you can't wait for them to shut-up." She believed that statement.

When she began to walk down the sidewalk to Mrs. Grimm's, her cell phone began to vibrate. Mrs. Grimm had an issue with people walking through her grass, so Sarah was always careful to use the sidewalk and then walk up the driveway. Sarah stopped on the sidewalk to answer her phone. She had only turned it on right after leaving the office and it was already ringing.

The cell phone read "New Call From: Ruthie." _What could Ruthie possibly want? _Sarah wondered. She loved Ruthie dearly, almost like she was her own sister. None of the Camden family called her unless something was wrong or they wanted information about someone else in the family. Immediately Sarah was suspicious.

"Hi Ruthie," Sarah answered the phone.

"Hey Sarah—how'd you know it was me?" Ruthie asked in an inquisitive tone being reluctant to remember all cell phones had call identification.

"Caller I.D., anyway what's up?" Sarah rushed to get to the point. She really hoped this didn't have anything to do with Matt.

"Um, well I've been trying to call Matt, and…" Sarah closed her eyes, _crap_, "And your home phone is busy, and I was really worried."

"_How much does she actually know,_" was all that was going through Sarah's mind. "Ruthie, I'm picking up the boys from the neighbor's right now, I'll be home in a moment and will see what's up with Matt. I don't know how much he has told you about what is going on, but I'll call you back, okay?" Sarah spoke quickly. She was worried, really worried. She doubted that the phone at home was really busy, odds are it was off the hook. When she had come home to Matt passed out and the bottles of alcohol strung all over the floor he had purposely taken the phone off the hook so he wouldn't have to pick it up if it rang. It was his way of "avoiding" talking. He knew if he picked up the phone from one of his family members they would "know."

"Okay… what do you mean you don't know how much he's told me?" Ruthie was concerned. "He's not … doing drugs or anything, is he?"

"Ruthie, I'll call you back later, I promise," Sarah promised.

"Okay then, I'll be waiting, I've finally caught up with all my homework and my sort of boyfriend and I had a fight, so I wanted to get in contact with Matt and you to see if it was okay if I came over there, so can I just come over?" Ruthie continued. That explained why they hadn't been seeing a lot of her, she had a new boyfriend. Boys were enough to distract her from the rest of the family.

"Ruthie, I'll call you back," she pressed the _"End" _button and put her cell phone back in her purse. That was the last thing she needed, Ruthie coming over and finding Matt passed out and drunk. Then again, that could be a good for Matt. If anyone could talk sense into Matt it was Ruthie.

Rapidly, she ran up and knocked on Mrs. Grimm's door. Mrs. Grimm, short and plump, opened the door standing in front of her with the two small blond curly haired boys in her arms. Somehow the twins had managed to inherit their adorable blond hair from their father's side of the family. No relative on Sarah's side of the family had ever been blond, she came from a very distinctive prominent Jewish family. She had met so few blond people of her faith. According to genetics, in order for a child to inherit a recessive trait they must have two recessive homogeneous traits. That would mean that Sarah herself had inherited a recessive gene for blond hair. Maybe somewhere down the line she had a blond relative that neither her parents or her were aware of. Her parents often suspected that the hospital had mixed up the twins at birth with another set of twins. Sarah happened to know that she was the only one to give birth to twin boys the week her sons were born in the entire hospital. Plus, the boys looked too much like Matt for them not to be theirs. It seemed the only trait they had inherited from her was the curly hair that was growing rapidly. They definitely weren't your typical bald baby boys, their hair had started to show signs of curls as early as four months. Often people told them how cute their little girls were, that irritated Matt a lot.

Sarah put on her happy face for the twins, she couldn't let them feel something was wrong. She knew that often babies could feel when their parents were stressed and that could impact them a great ordeal. It was important for her to stay positive for the boys. "Mommy's here!" Sarah cooed as she took her sons out of Mrs. Grimm's arms. Both boys were cooing, "_Momma!_" as they reached for her. Staring into Mrs. Grimm's pale eyes she asked, "Were they good boys today?"

"Oh, Sarah, you know they're always good, you on the other hand—are you okay? I saw you out there on your phone and you looked worried?" Mrs. Grimm asked. That statement made Sarah wonder if Mrs. Grimm would look out her window each evening waiting for her to arrive then she'd place the boys in their playpens and sit at the kitchen table and read. She had bigger things on her mind though than to worry about that.

"Oh, I'm fine, it was just my sister-in-law. She was having a problem reaching Matt, I'm sure everything is fine… well I promised I'd call her back," then she turned to her sons, "Let's go check and see what Daddy's up to."

"I see," Mrs. Grimm seemed to show sympathy, "I miss seeing your husband around, and I think it's terrible what he must be going through. Hopefully you are right and everything is okay."

"Oh I'm sure everything is," Sarah gave a fake smile trying to seem sure of herself. She wasn't sure of how convincing she was, Mrs. Grimm still seemed to be concerned. Sarah carried the boys out of the house realizing how heavy they were becoming. They were too much for her to carry on her own now. Both had started walking when they were around ten months old, so it wasn't like they couldn't walk on their own. It was hard letting go to them. They were her little babies and she didn't know if she would have anymore especially with all that was going on now. It wasn't like she wouldn't want another child, she just hated to see her boys go through what was going on now with their father. She couldn't dare ask another to go through the same. Maybe everything would be alright, maybe Matt and she would reconcile and he would turn around to be the same old Matt she fell in love. She still had this gut feeling that everything wasn't going to be alright.

She set the twins down on the sidewalk and let them hold onto her fingers as they made the journey to their cozy home. "Let's see what Daddy's up to," she cooed to them. The boys were giggling with adorable smiles on their faces. They had no fear in the world, and she wanted the world to remain a friendly place for them.

The door skulked open and a strong odor that Sarah dreaded to smell lingered to their noses. "Ewwwwwww!" the boys cried. Their giggling had vanished and they were covering their noses. Jacob and Noah knew something was wrong, they clung to their mother's legs and started crying.

Sarah took a look to the sight before her. Broken bottles of liquor were scattered across the brown carpet in the living room. Today's newspaper was scattered along with it. The beeping sound from the phone being off the hook vibrated inside her ears. Slowly she glanced over at the couch to see her worst fear: Matt passed out covered in his own vomit. She would have questioned if he were still alive, but with every breath he took a loud snore filled the house. "Dada!" the boys cried. She couldn't let them see this, and she had to get them out of here. Quickly, picking up the boys and covering their eyes, she ran into her bedroom and grabbed a suitcase. She started packing random bits of clothing, not even paying attention to what she was packing. There was enough for several days for her and the boys. Where they were going was still a mystery. The boys and she were definitely getting far away from here.

Leaving Matt alone was a bad idea, she knew he couldn't be here alone. It occurred to her that there was Ruthie. Ruthie wanted to come over after all. After she fastened the boys in their car seats she stepped out of the vehicle and called Ruthie back.

"Sarah?" Ruthie answered.

"Yeah, it's me, well there's been a sudden change of plans. The boys and I are going on a little vacation, I don't know where, but we're going. If you could come over and be with Matt that would be great," Sarah informed.

"Wait? What? What's going on? Is Matt okay?" Ruthie interrogated. She had to be confused.

"Let's just say he's very ill and I don't want the boys exposed, can you take care of him for me, please?" she begged Ruthie.

"Um, okay, since I have nothing better to do… he isn't contagious?"

"I think you know the answer to that question, just come over, thanks," she ended the call before Ruthie could argue. Just as she had ended the call her phone started to vibrate again. _"Shit." _It was Simon. Simon had married his ex-girlfriend Cecilia last year. Everyone had been delighted and shocked, especially after the scare the Camden family had been through with Rose. Simon had been engaged to Rose for a lengthy time, and while she "seemed" to turn around for the better there, she just wasn't right for him. Everyone was happy to have Cecilia in the family. Just recently Simon and Cecilia had announced they were expecting their first child. Simon had wanted to get away from his chaotic family and was the life as a striving film director in Hollywood.

Based on past events Sarah had come to learn Simon only called her or Matt when there was trouble or he needed advice. Simon had not been in the "action" of things lately, and had absolutely no idea—as far as she knew—of what was going on. She hadn't heard from or of Simon since he and Cecilia announced they were expecting.

"Hello?" she trailed nervously.

"Sarah? Hey it's Simon!" Simon's voice echoed through her ear.

"Hi Simon, how's it going?" Sarah asked looking in the car to check on the boys. They had both shut their eyes and started to fall asleep. It was getting dark out and just after eight. She couldn't believe she was just taking off like this. What if Mary couldn't get her a plane ticket to California at this time? It was obvious she would have to go to California, she couldn't stay out here. It would be good for the boys to see the rest of their family. Oh _crap _Mary. She still hadn't called Mary and asked if her friend could get them a ticket. It was of the essence she got Simon off the phone, and _fast. _

"Oh it's going—married life and expecting a baby and all, say, I've been trying to reach Matt for several hours and the phone line is busy, I was wondering if you knew what was up?" Simon had to ask, "I kind of needed his advice on something." Of course he did. Sarah had forgotten to hang up the phone; at least she would know when Matt was sober enough to hang up the phone when she called in the upcoming days, which she would have to do.

"Look, Matt's not feeling so well right now, and I don't know when he'll be better, this really isn't a good time…what do you need Matt's help with?" It had to be something big and important if he was going to Matt for help. She just hoped that Simon wasn't in any trouble. This would not be a good time for more Camden drama.

"Oh, it's just kind of a brother thing, if he's sick I'll call back tomorrow…okay?" Of course it was a _brother _thing. That meant he was in trouble.

"I'm not sure if Matt will be available to talk tomorrow, the boys and I are going out to California, so I guess you'll have to try." _Shit _she shouldn't have told him they were going off to California. Now that would give him reason to keep her on the phone. Why couldn't she just hang up and let it be that?

"Why are you going to California?" was what had to pop out of Simon's mouth. "You sound kind of tense, is everything okay? If Matt's sick shouldn't someone be there to take care of him?" Of course someone should.

"Yeah, Ruthie's going to be here, everything is fine, I just don't want to boys to be exposed, bye." She hung up and let out a deep sigh. Now she had to call Mary. Hopefully she could get them a nine or ten o'clock flight out of New York.

She called Mary's cell phone to avoid reaching to Carlos because he would ask questions. By now, he knew anytime that she called for Mary and not he she wanted plane tickets, and it wasn't like Matt or her to spring such a last minute trip. Mary never asked questions, she just called her friend and they had the tickets. Sarah still hadn't decided if she was going to stay with her parents or Matt's family. She really wanted to talk to Kevin about all this. He was the easiest out of all the Camden family to talk to. She didn't want to add any stress on Eric's heart that would force him to relapse, and she knew Annie and Lucy would become flighty and worry. Lucy, being in the condition she was in now, didn't need this added stress either. She had been devastated when she had a miscarriage with her twin sons two summers ago, the last thing anyone in the family wanted was Lucy to have a reiterate considering how close she was to delivery. Kevin and Ruthie were the only ones Sarah trusted to even talk about this with. She hated to put any of this on Ruthie, but she had always been there when they needed her and she was good at what she did. Ruthie would make a good psychologist or therapist.

The easy route would be to stay with her parents in Glen Oak, still that wasn't solving anything. Plus they would ask questions. They would want to know why she would take off work so suddenly and bring the boys out the California without Matt. Everyone in Matt and her family knew about Matt's problem and how culpable he felt. They all knew he was on leave. None of them had any idea how appalling he truly was headed.

Just as she expected, Mary asked no questions other than where she would like to land. Sarah finalized her decision to go to Crossroads and meet with the Camdens. Mary informed her since Crossroads was such a small town that there was no air port, but there was one about thirty minutes away. After talking to her friend at the airline she would call Sarah back to let her know if she could get a flight tonight.

Even if Mary could get her and the boys a nine o'clock flight it was still late. One benefactor of going to California was they gained three hours. It was only six o'clock there. Still, it would take them about five and a half hours to get there which meant it would be eleven thirty when they landed. Was she high? What was she thinking leaving so late? She couldn't face Matt in the morning, she couldn't face him now. She would just have to find a late night hotel room for the boys and her. Surely that couldn't be hard. She could call Kevin in the morning to come pick them up. Most airports had hotels nearby so she wouldn't have to buy a rental car.

Just assuming Mary could get tickets, Sarah drive to the airport. If she couldn't get the tickets, Sarah didn't know what she would do: camp outside in their car? There was no way she was going back to the house after witnessing Matt in the condition he was. Ruthie would be there, and she could take care of him—hopefully.

Right after she parked the car at the airport her cell phone vibrated. Looking at the I.D. she was hoping it was Mary, but it was Ruthie. _Great _Sarah thought. She figured Ruthie had arrived at their house and was calling to yell at her for leaving Matt alone in that condition. What did it matter? He had been home alone all day passed out, and it wasn't like she hadn't called someone—Ruthie—to take care of him.

Sarah's cell phone battery was getting low, and she really and honestly didn't want to waste it while waiting for confirmation from Mary so she ended the call without answering. Seconds later the phone started vibrating again. Without looking at the caller I.D. she fumed, "Ruthie can't you call back later I'm waiting for a call otherwise I wouldn't have hung up on you!"

"Whoa. Sarah, are you alright? It's Mary," Mary's calm voice trailed, "Anyway, today must be your lucky day, there happens to be a flight that goes out at nine to that town nearby Crossroads I was telling you, I got you and the boys tickets." Sarah wouldn't call it her lucky day.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine, thanks so much! You have no idea how grateful I am for you," Sarah thanked with gratitude. She was embarrassed for snapping on Mary. It wasn't like her not to check who was calling before answering, Matt was driving her crazy. It was almost like she was turning into his sister Lucy. She had never personally seen Lucy "crazy", but Matt had told her plenty of stories. Apparently all the Camden women were a bit loony, it had to be rubbing off on her. She had to be crazy to be flying to California at nine o'clock at night in the middle of the work week. The fact that she had work tomorrow hadn't even crossed her mind. She would have to come up with some lame "family emergency" excuse. Well, it wasn't totally lame because it was true.

Carrying the twins into the airport wasn't an easy task. She hated to wake them, usually she put them down right at eight and they would sleep pretty soundly now until five. The night they both started sleeping through the night was the best night of her life. When they were little both twins were very colic. Now they were little angels. She had a feeling they wouldn't be little angels tomorrow and would be very cranky for their California relatives.

Just as she sat down on the plane with the twins her phone vibrated again. _Ruthie. _Her phone couldn't handle much more before it died. At least she would have an excuse to end this conversation if it really did die. She had a feeling that this could get dirty.

"Hell—," she was cut off before she could finish greeting her worst nightmare.

"SARAH! WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TRAVELING TO GOD KNOWS WHERE WHILE MY BROTHER IS PASSED OUT DRUNK AND COLD TURKEY? HE COULD HAVE DIED! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Ruthie's voice fumed in her ear in a way it never had before. She had never heard Ruthie yell before or be so upset. She had heard Ruthie had somewhat a temper, but she never imagined this. "AND HANGING UP ON ME BEFORE? HOW MATURE! GROW UP! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE MOTHER TO MY NEPHEWS AND MATT'S WIFE, YOU KNEW HOW I WOULD FEEL ABOUT THIS, THAT'S WHY—." _Beep. _Her phone went dead. Sarah rested her face in her hands and couldn't believe this. Ruthie had a point, but all that was going through her mind was: _Noah and Jacob. _She had to do what was best for them, and getting away from their father seemed like the best thing to do at that moment and time. Hopefully the rest of the Camden family didn't think like she did. Then she thought_, "Shit, what if Ruthie calls them?" _She wouldn't do that, would she? Surely she would be too preoccupied with Matt to bother calling her parents. Ruthie would think of Matt's wishes, and what Matt wanted, right?

She didn't know. She didn't know anything. All she knew that was in about five hours she would be arriving with her twin sons in California with no definite place to stay for the night other than hopefully a hotel. She gazed at her twin sons who were back in dreamland. They were so peaceful looking and innocent and deserved nothing less than the best.

* * *

:: End Notes ::

I know it's long, and I hope someone who's reading this managed to read it from start to finish. Each chapter probably won't be this long, but that's really up in the air right now. Thank you for your time if you managed to read from start to finish. I hope my writing has changed since I last uploaded here in 2006.

_(Edited on May 17th 2010)_


	2. Kevin: Whimsy

Chapter 2

_Kevin_

It was half way through the six o'clock hour and Kevin was sitting at Peetza Heaven with his little princess, Savannah. The two and a half year old was very precocious for her age, over the summer she had begun speaking in almost full sentences, with of course leaving out a word here and there. Her favorite sentence was, "That's mine!" Kevin worried about how Savannah would adjust to being a big sister often. She wasn't used to being around babies younger than her but she spent a lot of time with her eight year old twin uncles, Sam and David. Kevin wished that Matt or Mary would bring their little ones home more often so Savannah could "practice" being the older one.

"Pizza yummy!" Savannah giggled as she chewed a bite of cheese pizza that Kevin had cut up for her. Her face was covered with blazing red pizza sauce.

"Yes, pizza yummy," Kevin spoke in his baby voice back as he was reluctant to wipe the sauce from her face until she was completely finished eating despite the fact it was driving him nuts. He had become some sort of neat freak last year when he was playing the "stay at home dad." After moving to Crossroads Kevin took on the role of police sheriff. While he enjoyed the smallness of Crossroads, he missed the action of Glen Oak. He had pulled over a total of three cars in the last month, compared to his minimum of ten a day in Glen Oak. Not only were the Crossroads folks quiet, they were also phenomenal drivers and apparently great parents. There hadn't been a single drug bust, abuse complaint, or anything. It benefited Kevin to some extent; he could go home whenever he wanted. His chief promised that if there was an issue ever he would get a page. That day still hadn't happened.

With Lucy on bed rest with their second child, a son, Kevin was on constant call from her. Being her husband was a profession in itself. Sometimes Kevin thought he should get paid for every trip he had to make for her. He would never dare say that out loud to her, for one, he loved her and for two, she'd kill him.

After this pregnancy Kevin wasn't sure if he could handle another. Lucy had been more moody than ever, and he thought she had been bad with Savannah. The whole pregnancy Lucy had been extremely tense and stressed out concerned about the baby. After losing their twins a year ago, Lucy had every reason to be. Kevin did too. He was just as nervous as her about something going wrong. Seeing Lucy stressed out made him more stressed because he knew that put stress on the baby which complicated matters worse. He thought maybe if she wasn't so stressed she wouldn't have had to go on bed rest this time around. Kevin didn't know if he could go through this another time and thought maybe this pregnancy would halt any further ones. After all, they would have a son and a daughter—the ideal "perfect" family.

Kevin didn't know how he would get through with out Lucy's mom. She came and stayed with Lucy and Savannah whenever he could not be there. Annie, who he referred to as "Mom", was the biggest blessing any of them could have asked for. He never got the opportunity to be around his grandparents growing up and was grateful his daughter got to spend time with her grandparents. Savannah was the only "local" granddaughter that Eric and Annie got to see regularly out of their six, which would soon become eight. Kevin knew that Matt and Sarah had seriously considered moving back to California to be closer to Mom and Dad, but he hadn't heard from either of the in quite some time. He was actually starting to become a little concerned. For the longest time Matt had become closer to him than his own brother. Now he was distant. He knew that there had been a situation a few weeks ago where he had lost a patient and he had been really down about it. Kevin kept meaning to call Matt and check in, but with all that was going it just slipped his mind.

As he cleaned up Savannah when she had finished her pizza, a young couple and their son only a little older than Savannah walked in. Everyone in Crossroads knew everyone, which could be good or bad. Kevin had thought the gossip in Glen Oak was bad, but Crossroads' gossip was ten times worse. Everyone knew everyone's business. While they made their family feel very welcomed, Kevin had a feeling they were saying lots of "juicy" stuff behind their backs.

"Hello, Sheriff Kinkirk!" the brown haired, blue eyed mother waved placing her hand on her son's shoulder. "How is your wife?"

He couldn't remember the woman's name, as was true for many for the church members. Kevin figured he should be used to so many people knowing his name who he didn't know theirs. He had lived with the Camden family for around five years now and everyone was always talking about them. Nonetheless, he responded the truth, "Oh Luce, she's holding up—we can't wait until our son is born."

"I bet," the blond man patted the small boy's sandy blond hair, "I bet you can't wait to have a son to do _manly _stuff with that girls don't enjoy." Was he implying that daughters couldn't do all the stuff a son could? What was he playing at? Savannah was everything Kevin could possibly hope for in a child, the gender of his child did not matter to him. He would be happy having all daughters as long as they were healthy. Of course, he was looking forward to having a son.

"Um, yeah, though gender shouldn't matter as long as the child is healthy," Kevin insisted.

"Of course health is the primary factor, but a man can't live without wanting a son," the man chuckled, still patting his son's shoulder. The small boy just smiled.

Kevin was beginning to get annoyed, and he wasn't up for an argument. He picked up Savannah and told the family, "Well, enjoy your meal. Savannah and I are going to get going home." He turned to Savannah and changed his tone to a coo, "Say bye-bye."

"Bye-bye!" Savannah waved.

As they walked out to the car, Kevin's cell phone began ringing. He figured it was Lucy calling asking him to pick up some crazy dish on his way home. To his shock, the phone read "Call from Ruthie." He hadn't talked to Ruthie since she left for Princeton about a month ago.

"Hello?" Kevin answered.

"Kevin!" Ruthie spoke. She seemed almost breathless, "I don't know if I should be calling you, or anyone for that matter—but I don't know what to do; this is something I would usually talk to Lucy about but she's already under too much stress, and I don't want to worry Mom and Dad…so I'm left with you."

"Okay, I'm here, but Matt and Sarah are closer—can't you talk to them?" Kevin asked. He knew right away for her to call him this had to be pretty big. She hoped she wasn't pregnant or something. If she was, though, he figured she would go to Matt before she talked to him.

"Well, considering it has to do with them, and Sarah's an idiot…well, so is Matt. This is all Matt's fault," Ruthie sighed. Kevin fastened Savannah in her car seat and sat in the driver's seat to talk to Ruthie. This had to be big. He wondered what Matt was up to and suspected Matt and Sarah might be having marital problems like they had a couple years earlier. "I just kind of blew up at Sarah…" Ruthie continued, "Then she hung up on me, I think she's bringing the boys out there to California, but I don't know if she's coming to see you guys or her parents."

"Why did you blow up at her?" Kevin asked assured her, "I haven't heard from Sarah or Matt in awhile, I've been meaning to call them but I've just been so busy. Sarah probably has been planning to come out and see her parents for awhile, surely if she was coming to see us she would have called." His mind was boggled, why would Ruthie blow up at Sarah? Sarah and Ruthie had always got along so well. He was suspicious immediately.

"Look, I can't tell you everything, it just wouldn't be right for me to. I don't think Sarah _planned _on coming to California tonight, I think it was a "spur of the moment" type deal. I'm not saying much more, but if Sarah calls you tomorrow don't be surprised, there's my warning," Ruthie warned, "oh, and don't call Matt, promise me."

She definitely knew something. For her not to want him to call Matt was big. Kevin didn't want to promise not to call Matt; he wanted to know what was going on and now. He resisted, he figured Ruthie had a reason for not telling him the whole story and it would come out sooner or later, hopefully sooner. "Okay, I promise, but if you can't tell me what's up why did you call me?" he pondered.

"Just call me if Sarah shows up tomorrow, ok?" Ruthie pleaded.

"I guess I can do that, if she does will you tell me what's up?" he had to ask.

"Maybe, but if Sarah does show up I think _she _should tell you, not me. It's not really my place." In other words, she knew something she shouldn't. Kevin should have known. Odds were, he figured, it had something to do with Matt and Sarah's relationship. He just hoped they weren't divorcing for the sake of their two sons. Before when they were having marital problems it made the whole family distraught. Surely Matt wasn't as foolish as Mary almost was and was planning on signing away rights of his sons. Matt wouldn't do that. Mary couldn't even fall through with it. Kevin knew it was important for him to keep this conversation from Lucy, this was the last thing she needed on her plate.

"Well, is that all you needed? I was just getting ready to go home," Kevin pried.

"Yeah, I guess that's it. Bye," Ruthie hung up.

_That was odd, _was going through Kevin's mind. Something was always going on in this family, and it was always at the wrong time. He knew that before he married Lucy, so he really had no reason to complain. He was doing his best to keep Lucy out of the "loop" of what was going on. With such a large family, that was hard.

"Daddy, who that?" Savannah asked. She had inherited the Camden "snoop" gene. Kevin foresaw a future Ruthie: precocious and a snoop. If that was the case, Kevin dreaded her teenage years.

"It was just Aunt Ruthie, don't worry about it honey," he told Savannah. He couldn't bring himself to lie to his own daughter.

"What wrong with Uncle Matt and Aunt Sarah?" Savannah questioned. She was beginning to understand conversations and could tell when something was "wrong." It was the day every parent dreaded, the day they had to start explaining their conversations to their children. The next day he dreaded was when she learned to spell, spelling words out so younger children didn't "catch on" to what they were talking about was another parenting tip he had learned from his own parents.

"Nothing, sweetie, don't worry." He hoped he wasn't lying to her; he hated to lie to his own flesh and blood. Sometimes lying was necessary, especially when it came to protecting someone. Though he wasn't protecting anyone right now, or at least he didn't think he was. The only person he intended to protect was Lucy. She didn't need to know anything about anything that was going on outside the house.

Shortly after he began driving his cell phone rang again. He hoped it wasn't Ruthie again. He was relieved to see it was Lucy. "Hey Luce!" he gleamed while answering the phone.

"Hey honey, are you guys done eating?" Lucy's voice tingled in his ear.

"Yep, we're just about to come home, is there anything you need?" He was sure there was something she wanted. She never called for a withheld reason.

"Hmmm, now that you mention it…some buffalo wings from KFC with mustard would be nice." That was a new one. Lucy had asked for completely different foods with this pregnancy than before. Some of the stuff she came up with downright grossed him out.

"Ok then, I'll grab that on the way home, anything else?" _Please say no_, he was thinking.

"I don't think so, that's it, thanks honey! I love you." He loved the sound of those three words: _I love you_. His biological family didn't use those words near enough.

"Love you too, Luce." After hanging up he glanced over at Savannah, "Your mommy sure has some strange cravings." The little doll giggled. He just hoped they had mustard at home because he didn't quite feel like going to the supermarket, last time he went in here he heard some stuff he didn't want to hear. The rumor going around town was that Ruthie was a juvenile delinquent who got sent off to military school and Simon had joined the circus as a clown. As of now, the town had not been introduced to Matt or Mary and Kevin thought maybe that was for the best. He didn't want to imagine what the folks here could cook up about them, especially Mary.

He couldn't leave Savannah in the car when he went to get the chicken wings, so he unbuckled her after parking and carried her into the KFC building. Kentucky Fried Chicken was one of the few chain restaurants this town had. They had a McDonalds, but that was about it. There wasn't a Wal-Mart for a whole thirty miles. It was insane.

"Did you hear? The shortest twin, Sam I think it is, is a mute—that's why his brother does all the talking," Kevin heard a short plump woman whose back was facing the door as he walked in.

"I heard he's autistic," a blonde woman said, whose back was also facing the door. Two other women, facing the door, were also conversing with them. When they saw Kevin walk in their eyes got big. The blonde woman laughed, "Mia? Anna? Are you two alright? You look like one of the Camdens or Kinkirks just walked in." She turned around and Kevin waved at her.

"W-w-why hello Sheriff Kinkirk, fancy seeing you here…" the woman's face was beat red.

"Indeed. By the way, Sam is not autistic or a mute, he talks just fine and is just shy around strangers. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get some buffalo wings for my wife," Kevin smiled. The ladies let out a gasp of embarrassment.

"Daddy, Sam artistic!" Savannah exclaimed, "He drew puppy!" Kevin was shocked that Savannah even knew what _artistic _meant. She truly amazed him every moment of every day. It made him wonder what else she knew.

"Not _artistic, _Savannah, she said _autistic_," Kevin explained. He wasn't really up to explaining what autistic was.

"What that?" Savannah asked, and he knew that was coming from his naturally curious toddler.

"Don't worry about it, you'll understand when you're older," Kevin explained. It wasn't that he didn't want his daughter to understand what autism was or other handicaps, he just felt she was too young. Besides, she needed to learn to accept everyone as equals before she understood their differences. Savannah gave him a pout face that she gave anyone when they refused to explain more. He realized now he should have just agreed with her when she said that Sam was artistic, but then she would have wanted to know why she lied to the lady. Kevin sighed. Parenting never was easy. Choosing the right words to say to your children had to be one of the hardest parts.

Finally, after getting the chicken wings, Kevin and Savannah were on the way home. It was about time, and Kevin was exhausted. False gossip going around the town tired Kevin more and not repeating any of it really egged at his heart. He really hated to upset any of the Camden family. Mom would be frantic if she knew that the folks were calling her son autistic or her daughter a juvenile delinquent. Kevin had noticed Sam's struggle in speech, David had shown problems with speech too when he was younger but had progressed as he aged. Kevin figured the twins' lack of attention when learning to talk was a major factor in why they struggled with speech. With five older siblings, life hadn't always been about them. Now their parents only had them and Sam and David were more spoiled than they ever had been.

There was nothing like the smell of home baked cookies lingering throughout the air when you entered your house. The house was freshly clean a cinnamon scent lingered throughout the house, Kevin was so grateful for Lucy's mother. He did feel a little guilty having to rely on her so much, though she continued to insist she enjoyed it. She told him so many times that she had done this her entire life, and now with all of her children almost grown up she didn't know what to do with herself other than help Lucy and him out.

Sam and David were sitting at the kitchen table working on some homework. They came over here on most days after school to be with their mother. Mom and Dad had decided to send the boys back to school because it would be best for them to socialize with other children. The boys had always had each other to play with, but never got along well with other children. That was a very common problem among twins. They still struggled to make friends at school, especially in Crossroads. Their class was made up of forty other children who had known each other since kindergarten. Now, in the third grade, they were the "new" kids and quite the outsiders. Sam was struggling more than David. As the ladies at Kentucky Fried Chicken said, he didn't talk a lot. He relied on David to do most of his talking in public.

"Kevin and Savvy!" the boys cried as they walked in.

"Davey and Sammy!" Savannah cried back. When Savannah started talking, she immediately started calling the twins "Davey and Sammy." In return, the boys started calling her "Savvy." Everyone thought their kid nicknames for each other was adorable. Savannah didn't seem to have any concept that the twins were her uncles, when they were around each other they acted like brothers and sister. The twins were the only of her six aunts and uncles she didn't refer to as so.

"Good, you're home," Mom said as she walked in the kitchen, "Lucy's been demanding her chicken wings with mustard. By the way, we have mustard in the refrigerator. I hope you didn't go out and buy some more."

"Nope, I didn't," Kevin laughed as he went to the refrigerator to grab the mustard. He put the chicken onto a plate and then put it on the mini-table they had been taking into Lucy and brought her the food.

"Well it's about time," Lucy groaned as he walked in the room. He bent over and gave her a kiss. She continued, "I don't know how you can come near me when I haven't bathed in two days—ugh, it's driving me nuts."

"By now I'm used to it," Kevin promised. It honestly didn't bother him, but he would be sleeping on the couch tonight, and not because of her odor. Every night she would wake up and start screaming at him for various reasons just like she had when she was pregnant with Savannah. He couldn't handle it anymore and had been sleeping on the couch for the last week.

She began eating her chicken dipping it frantically in the mustard and then requested, "Hey, this might taste good with ketchup, do you think you could get me some?" _Ketchup?_ Kevin gulped.

"Of course, anything for you." He went out to the kitchen and whispered to Mom and the kids, "Ketchup." They all began giggling. Kevin was just thankful he wasn't the one who had to eat this delirious meal.

After getting Lucy all settled in and comfortable and happy, well as comfortable and happy as she could possibly be at a time like this, he insisted Mom and the twins go home and get some rest. After they left, he tucked Savannah into bed by reading her a story—The Three Little Pigs for the thousandth time. At last, the house was peaceful. It was after ten and he was going to shower and relax on the couch until one of the following happened: Savannah crawled on his lap asking for breakfast or Lucy screamed demanding something. Usually Lucy beat Savannah, but with being the minority in the household he never knew.

Sleep came, and passed. Kevin thoroughly enjoyed it while it was present. The feeling of nothingness was a splendid feeling as he entered dreamland. He hadn't dreamed much since Savannah was born. One of his last dreams involved Lucy and him plus ten or more children. He couldn't imagine having ten children, in fact, he wasn't sure he could imagine having three at this moment.

It was not Savannah or Lucy that broke his sleep cycle around sunrise. Matter of fact, it was no living creature inside his own house. Their dogs were still peacefully lying on their respected rugs when his cell phone went off. _Who could possibly be calling at this hour? _He wondered suspiciously as he looked at the wall clock that read six-thirty.

Too tired to look at who was calling, he pressed "talk" and yawned, "Hello?"

"Kevin? I hope I'm not waking you," it was _Sarah_. Instantly his memory of Ruthie and his conversation last night came to the front of his mind. _Damn, this is not good_, he thought. He had a feeling this could be a bad omen. "Um, well, I should have called you yesterday, but my train of thought wasn't really there, have you spoken to Ruthie by any chance?"

He couldn't lie, Ruthie hadn't told him anything. Still, he had spoken to her, "She called me last night."

"Great, I suppose you know everything and hate me too," she jumped to a conclusion.

"All she said was you might call this morning…she didn't say why," Kevin assured her. _Why would I hate her, what did she do? _he pondered anxiously.

"Oh, good, well…she kind of blew up at me yesterday, then my cell phone went dead so she probably thinks that I hung up on her, I didn't…well not that time anyway, ugh, this isn't a good conversation to have over the phone…the boys and I are at a motel right across the street from the airport, by any chance could you come pick me up?" Sarah spoke like she was in some sort of talking marathon.

"Alright, I understand if you don't want to tell me over the phone," Kevin said as he noticed Savannah walking out of her bedroom carrying her favorite teddy bear. He motioned her to be quiet by putting his figure over his lip. Savannah nodded in understanding. "And yeah, Savannah and I will be there in about an hour."

"Thank you so much Kevin, you have no idea how much I appreciate this…and please don't say anything to Lucy, I really don't want to upset her at this time." He had no intentions of saying anything to Lucy. He knew how she would react. Of course Lucy would figure out sooner or later that Sarah was in town with Jacob and Noah. She would also know something was up because nobody told her. He figured Sarah and he could cook up something as an excuse for whatever the real reason might be.

Kevin gave Sarah his word not to say a word to Lucy and ended the call. "Guess what Savannah?" he whispered.

"What!" Savannah demanded in excitement.

"Aunt Sarah and your cousins are in town, after we get you dressed we are going to go pick them up," Kevin whispered to her.

"Yay!" Savannah exclaimed and started jumping up and down.

"Shh, but don't tell Mommy, it's a _surprise_," Kevin told her. That was it, Sarah could just tell everyone she was surprising everyone and Matt had to work. Maybe that was all, after all. He solemnly doubted it, though he was wondering why she was coming _here _instead of to her own parents' house. That made him suspect it had to be bad. He just hoped they weren't into some sort of legal trouble considering he was a cop.

* * *

:: End Notes ::

See? Shorter, yeah not a lot—but still shorter.

For anyone actually reading this, don't get used to having updates so frequently. I'm a graduating senior this year and very busy. (In fact, I'm using this as my "procrastination" tool.)

Feel free to tell me what you think. =)

* * *

What's next?

While we take a minor break from the Matt and Sarah fiasco (don't worry, they'll be back), Mary and Carlos encounter some problems of their own. Carlos suspects Mary of doing something irrational and the accusations begin. Is she really that foolish?


	3. Carlos: Avocation

This is probably going to be a short chapter, but it's a time buyer and there's a reason for it…

_Warning: There will be a couple phrases in Spanish throughout this chapter. They will be translated though._

_

* * *

_

Chapter 3

_Carlos_

Carlos's favorite part of every morning was breakfast with his three children. He was always responsible for getting the children ready before he and Mary went off to their respective jobs. He was also responsible for dropping the kids off at daycare. They attended a community daycare that separated the kids by age. Charlie's age group was more like a "pre-school" where the sitters were actually licensed pre-school teachers. They would read to the kids and work with them on word recognition and numbers. Carlos was amazed with how much Charlie had learned in the three months he had been in the three year old wing. He was already starting to recognize small words.

Charlie was digging into his dry cereal. He hated milk, no matter how much Carlos insisted he needed the calcium for his bones to grow strong. At least he ate yogurt, he loved that—and cheese. Carlos would cook them big cheesy Mexican dishes with recipes his family had been passing down for generations.

"Paddy, someone called Mommy last night," Charlie told his father. Carlos found it adorable how Charlie would combine "Padre" and "Daddy." Charlie was spoken to mostly in English, but whenever he was with his relatives in Puerto Rico they would speak Spanish to him only. He had picked up on several words. Carlos had been told it was easy for young children to be bilingual than teenagers and adults. Charlie had just been learning to speak when he had been in Puerto Rico with his parents when Mary had considered terminating his rights and at that time he had spoke almost all Spanish. Now that his mother was back in the picture he had seemed to forget most of the words he once knew, yet he combined several English and Spanish words. Mary insisted on speaking only English to the children because they were Americans and needed to know how to communicate in English, not Spanish.

Last night Carlos had been working late last night, not by choice either. His older brother, also his boss, had enforced Carlos to stay late on the job because a cousin had some sort of "emergency." Carlos knew that wasn't true, this particular cousin was a bit of a player. They probably had met some chick and planned on having a little fiesta.

"Who called Mommy?" he asked his son. Mary had been acting strangely lately and hiding phone calls from him. He had told Charlie the other day that if anyone called her to give him a heads up. Carlos had a bad feeling that Mary was up to something, possibly cheating on him.

"No sé, Mommy said that it wasn't important," Charlie pouted. So it was really real, Mary was having an affair. Carlos wondered who it was, but he had bets on that it was one of her old boyfriends. He couldn't deal with her immature games anymore. After they got back together everything had been going just fine. Obviously it was for they conceived the twins. Now she was more distant than ever. He really didn't want to go down this road again for the sake of their children and their families. Carlos's mom had warned him about going back with Mary. She told him that if she played this game again not to give her a third chance. There was no such thing as third chances in his mother's eyes.

He let Charlie's information pass for now. Carlos would approach Mary later tonight about this situation after the kids were asleep. He didn't have to work late tonight, and he really didn't want to involve the kids in their marriage problems—if that wasn't just wishful thinking.

* * *

_Later…_

_

* * *

_

It was nice to be out at three that afternoon. Mary was responsible for picking the kids up for the "afternoon" shift so the kids would all be home. He wasn't sure if he would be able to hold off until tonight to discuss the information Charlie had enlightened him with. The thought of Mary and her possible affair had been throbbing at his mind throughout his entire work day. He decided he would calmly confront Mary when he got home.

When he arrived at their three bedroom apartment, he found his son in front of the television and his daughters no where in sight. Charlie ran to gave him a hug and cried, "Paddy!"

"Charlie baby, where's Mommy and the girls?" he questioned.

"I'm right here," Mary said coming from the twins' room with one girl in each arm. "The girls needed their diapers changed, sigh, I can't wait until they are potty trained."

After kissing Crissy and Jenny each on the forehead he said, "Well, that will be around another year." He took a deep breath, "May I speak with you alone, Mary?"

"Um, alright," Mary looked nervous, almost as if she knew what was coming, "Charlie, keep an eye on your sisters, alright?" The three year old gleamed with delight of having the honor of being trusted in a room alone with his little sisters.

"Look, Charlie told me about your little phone fiesta while I was gone last night," he cut straight to the chase.

"Um, what phone fiesta?" she played dumb.

"Don't play dumb with me, I know all about your affair, just because I'm Hispanic doesn't mean I'm an idiot."

"Uh, what does your heritage have anything to do with whether or not you're an idiot? That just shows how stupid you really are."

"You just called me _stupid_? What is wrong with you Mary?"

"No, it's more what's wrong with _you_; you're the one that thinks I'm having an affair!"

"_¿Cuándo he dicho nada de ti una aventura? __Estás loca!" _When he was angry, Carlos always went off in his Spanish rants.

"I know you said I'm crazy! And now you're accusing me of going on an adventure? Hello, we have three children. I have no time for an adventure!"

It amused him when she misinterpreted his Spanish. He had said, "_When did I say anything about an affair?" _He had never mentioned his theory of an affair_. _All he did was accuse her of having a fact that she jumped to the conclusion he was onto her affair made him even more certain of it.

"Who were you talking to last night, if you tell me and I call them that will settle everything," Carlos tried to reason.

"Not that it's any of your business, but it was Sarah, and we weren't having a _fiesta_," she told him.

"Sarah would only call you if she wanted plane tickets, and last I heard from her she had no plan on going anywhere anytime soon because she was swamped between Matt and work."

"Well when was the last time you talked to her?"

Carlos had to think about that, "About a week or so ago, she seemed pretty stressed."

"Look, I don't ask questions, I just give people tickets when they call," Mary rolled her eyes. Carlos thought she was being unbearably immature.

"Don't you think this whole "Camden family free pass" thing is getting kind of old? You've robbed the airlines of thousands of dollars and you don't even work there anymore! Your friend should be fired for giving away as many tickets as she does."

"What is it, pick on Mary day?" Mary threw at him, "I'm done. I'm done with you!" A soft knock sounded at the door. Carlos realized they had been shouting, and their children were right out the door listening. He let out a deep sigh, this wasn't the first time they had fought in front of their children. Regardless, he hated it.

Mary busted open the door, practically knocking Charlie over picking up the twins who were sitting on the floor in the living room crying. She yelled back at Carlos, "I'm leaving, I'm gone, have a nice life—oh and I'm taking my daughters with me." All three children had tears dribbling down their faces.

Carlos watched her run into the girls' room frantically packing piles of clothes into her suitcase. He didn't know what to say, he had to get out of here. There was absolutely no way any of the kids could go with Mary in the mood she was in, he was afraid she might do something stupid.

"Paddy, why doesn't Mommy love me?" Charlie cried. Carlos couldn't believe Mary was doing this to her family again. Charlie had already been abandoned by his mother once, why would she do this to him again? He knew she loved him, but she had a funny way of showing it. She always wanted to be with the girls.

"Charlie, she loves you, she just doesn't know how to show it," Carlos assured his son. If he was going to make a breakaway he would have to do it now. Packed, or not: it didn't matter. He couldn't go home to Puerto Rico, because if he did that he would have to face his parents and give up Mary forever. He didn't want to give up Mary; he just wanted her sane again and not cheating on him. Of course he couldn't prove she was actually cheating, not yet.

The only safe haven he could possibly escape to would be Crossroads, California where Mary's family was now residing, and he would have to go fast. He had to act fast, because once Mary was done with her rage of packing she would take the girls. Traveling with three children on his own would not be easy, but he had to in order to save his family.

"Come on, follow me Charlie," he whispered to his son picking up his two daughters. "Shhhhh." They made a quiet escape getaway to their car. Both him and Mary had cars in the apartment garages. Having a car in New York City was rare, and not advised. Carlos had always had a car, as he hated riding in taxi cabs. He felt it was safer for his children to be driven by him rather than some complete stranger.

Driving toward the airport Carlos knew he would have to actually pay for this ticket, it had been awhile since he purchased a ticket. He wouldn't dare go through Mary's friend, even though he knew she would probably give it to him. She would tell Mary he had been there, which could lead her to him. He didn't know if Mary planned on going home, but knowing Mary she wouldn't want her parents to know she had considered running off with her daughters and abandoning her son again.

It was an incredulously dreary evening. The dark cumulonimbus clouds lingered near the ground looking like a storm was about to break out. Carlos's life was enough of a storm.


	4. Lucy: Impetuous

Chapter 4

_Lucy_

Lying in her once comfortable bed should be custom to Lucy by now, but lying in bed all day was one life Lucy could never get used to. She needed to be up and moving around, taking care of her family, and helping others. Being confined to bed was _not _what she needed. Well, it was what her son needed and she was willing to do anything for her unborn child.

She had been staring at the ceiling for at least three hours waiting for the sun to shine through her bedroom windows telling her it was late enough to yell at Kevin, who would not sleep with her anymore. He claimed to choose the couch over their bed because he couldn't tolerate her blowing up at him in the middle of the night, but she knew it was her odor he hated. She hoped to get a shower at some point today since it had been three days since she got that being only allowed to be on her feet for five minutes a day.

Footsteps sounded from the living room which meant Kevin was awake. It was unusual for him to be awake before she called on him. She heard voices that she could not make out their words and then little Savannah's giggle. "KEVIN!" she called, realizing she had a craving for some eggs and ranch. Yes, definitely eggs and ranch—it sounded scrumptious.

"I'm coming, honey!" his distant voice called back. A few moments later the door crept open and there stood her handsome husband holding their adorable two and a half year old dressed all in pink. "I was just getting ready to comb Savannah's hair; we're going to go spend some quality time together today."

"We're gonna go get—." Savannah started before Kevin cut her off.

"Shhh, Savannah, remember it's a surprise," she heard Kevin whisper to their daughter. Lucy couldn't believe that Kevin was keeping secrets from her that he was sharing with their daughter, but not her. Did he think she was really that unstable that she couldn't handle whatever it was they were hiding? Why was she always the last to know everything? She downright hated being left out and they knew it.

"So you guys are holding secrets from me," Lucy snubbed, "I can't believe you, Kevin! You KNOW I hate surprises so why surprise me?" Her mind was frantically wondering what this "surprise" could possibly be.

Kevin just gave her that cheesy smile he always did when she went off on him. She hated that smile. If she wasn't bed bound she would have slapped him. Her mind just could not get off what this _surprise _was. Here she was seven and a half months pregnant, bed bound, and he was trying to spring surprises on her. Didn't he know that was bad for her stress level?

"Your mom should be over here any minute," Kevin said, "Savannah and I will hopefully be back within a couple hours depending and all." What _surprise _could take them potentially a couple hours to get? Lucy couldn't handle the anticipation.

"Can't you just tell me? I promise I'll act surprised when you bring it," Lucy pleaded.

"Nope, I can't," Kevin stated still wearing his cheesy smile.

"Ugh!" Lucy rolled her eyes and felt a strong kick from inside. It was like her own unborn son was telling her to get over it and just be surprised. He was already a smart fetus. She shouldn't be bothered by surprises, but people had sprung surprises on her for her entire life and she had gotten tired of it.

Kevin came over and kissed her forehead and said, "Don't worry about it, Luce, everything will be alright." _Don't worry about it_? That was an understatement. Lucy was _panicking _about it.

Lucy heard the front door creep open, her mother had arrived. She glanced over to the clock to see it was only a quarter to six. Her mom usually didn't come over until around eight. Whatever this "surprise" was Lucy knew had to be a family conspiracy.

Moments later her door opened and there stood her smiling mother and twin brothers. Her mom usually liked to get the twins off to school before coming over here. They lived just down the street, so it wasn't like they had to walk far to catch the bus. The bus would stop at the end of the street corner.

"You and Savannah can go to wherever you're going, I'm here now," her mom said looking at Kevin.

"Mom, don't play dumb, I know you're in on this!" Lucy snapped, "Tell me what's happening!"

"Luce, I really don't know," her mom stared straight at her with her sparkling blue eyes, "Kevin said it was a surprise, and I guess we will just have to accept that." Her mother winked.

Lucy despised _the wink_. She let out a deep obnoxious sigh. As Kevin and Savannah left the room she remembered she hadn't asked for her eggs and ranch. Fortunately, her mother was here now, "Mom, can you get me some eggs and ranch?"

She gave Lucy a weird engrossing look. It wasn't like Lucy could control her absurd cravings. She had never had quite such _strange _cravings with Savannah. Lucy figured it was because she was having a boy. Boys liked stranger things compared to girls. "One plate of eggs and ranch coming up," her mother smiled.

In the meantime, Lucy twiddled her thumbs. She really needed a good book to read. Over the last month she had read three of Mary Higgins Clarks' books. Whenever Kevin came back she would ask him to go to the library and pick out another random book by her. Lucy was falling in love with Mary Higgins Clarks' writing.

After eating the eggs topped with ranch, Lucy trailed off to sleep. Sleep nowadays was completely dreamless. All sleep did was pass the time. Lucy wished she could just stay asleep until the time came for her to have her son, but no such luck. Her conscious mind would wake up all too soon.

In this case, she was awakened by the phone ringing. _Maybe it's Kevin, _she hoped. Usually she would let her mom answer the phone, but under the given circumstances she reached for the phone on the nightstand next to her bed as fast as she could hoping to get to the phone before her mother. As she grabbed the phone, she realized it was already almost eight o'clock. Kevin had been gone a whole hour, he had said he would be gone "hopefully" only two hours. Hopefully this wasn't him calling to say he would be later, or something else had come up. Or maybe it was him saying he would be home in a few minutes and that she should be awake.

"Hello?" Lucy huffed.

"Lucy?" a familiar female voice came through the speakers of her phone. She was almost positive it was Roxanne. It had been a little over three years since she had heard of or from Roxanne. Roxanne had gone off to train for Iraq the summer three years before. Lucy couldn't believe she was back in the states already.

"Roxanne…?" Lucy questioned her guess.

"Yeah, it's me, Roxanne," Roxanne confirmed.

"Wow! Hi Roxanne! It's really nice to hear from you, wait…how did you get our new number? When did you get back? We have a lot of catching up to do! You do know we don't live in Glen Oak anymore, right?" Lucy was really excited to have somebody to talk to outside of her own family again and didn't know every aspect of her current situation.

She heard Roxanne laugh from the other end of the line, "Chief Michaels gave me your number and address, and yeah, we do have a lot of catching up to do…and I need your advice, which is why I'm about ten miles out of Crossroads right now, I just realized that maybe I should call a bit in advance."

Lucy busted out laughing, it was the first time she had laughed in awhile, "Well thanks for he the heads up, well, I don't now if Chief Michaels told you, but I'm seven and a half months pregnant and on bed rest again…"

"He said you were pregnant, but nothing about bed rest—I hope this isn't a bad time?"

"No! This isn't a bad time at all. In fact it's a great time. Everyone in my family is keeping secrets from me…like always, I need somebody to talk to," Lucy insisted.

"It doesn't sound like things have changed around there much since I was around there last," Roxanne indicated, "I also heard you and Kevin had a daughter about two and a half years ago, the one you had just announced you were pregnant with right before I left?"

"Yeah we did, her name is Savannah and she is a little doll, Kevin took her out to bring home some _surprise _for me today, and it's really irritating me, which is why I'm thrilled to hear from you. They're supposed to be home in about an hour, so you can meet her!"

"I can't wait! I'll hang up now and see you in a bit?"

"Okay, oh by the way, my mom's here—just tell her you want to talk to me, hopefully she'll comply."

"K Luce," Roxanne laughed and the line went dead.

Lucy put her hand over her belly and to her son she said, "Today might be a good day after all." Then she remembered Roxanne said she needed advice. Lucy wondered what had brought her home from Iraq so soon or if she had ever made it to Iraq. Surely she had trained for about a year or so. Or maybe she had gotten in some sort of trouble over there and got sent home early. Lucy's mind was buzzing with possibilities.

Her mother, as nosy as the rest of the Camden family, had heard Lucy on the phone and had to come in and ask, "Who was that on the phone?" then added, "I was going to get it, but then you had already picked it up."

"Just Roxanne, she's coming over to talk. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Are you sure you're up to catching up?" her concerned mother questioned.

"Yes, I'm sure," Lucy sighed, "Just let her in, okay?"

For the following moments Lucy continued to stare at the ceiling, thoughts of what she and Roxanne could catch up on came to mind. So much had happened in the last three years of her life. She tried to focus on the positive events over the last three years. Of course, the biggest of them all had been having Savannah. She had continued being the associate pastor at her father's church up until she had been offered the job here.

Then there was also all the events that had happened in her family's lives. Mary and Matt had both had twins. Ruthie had gone to Scotland and returned and dated that T-bone for awhile. Simon had gotten married to his true love, Cecilia. Her father had been enlightened with the news that his heart problem had magically disappeared and they had gone on that exciting RV trip. On the trip they had visited various locations all over the western part of the United States. They returned briefly to Glen Oak last month where Lucy spent a couple days in the hospital due to a very early labor she had endured. She was ordered to be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. Instead of taking her to her old home, they headed off to Crossroads where the church was demanding a permanent minister; they had been having temporary ministers for a very long time. Her father had graciously volunteered to take over while she was on bed rest. Simon had announced he and Cecilia were expecting. Ruthie had broke it off with T-bone and headed off to Princeton, New Jersey where she claimed she wanted to be closer to her brother Matt. Now, Lucy was lost to what was going on. Nobody told her anything, they were afraid it might cause her to go into labor and she hated every minute of it.

She heard the doorbell ring and her mother open the door. Her mother's voice greeted Roxanne and she heard their footsteps coming toward the bedroom. Lucy was overwhelmed with excitement.

The door opened, and entered Roxanne's familiar face. She had gained a bit of weight, and was wearing baggier clothes than she normally did. Her thin dirty blonde hair was let down just past her shoulders. Roxanne thanked Lucy's mother for letting her in. Lucy greeted, "Hey Roxanne!" Roxanne smiled back. Lucy didn't realize how awkward this situation was. Here she was lying in bed unable to get up. She still hadn't had her shower and felt gruesome.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone, seeing as you have lots of catching up to do," her mother smiled.

"So, where do we begin?" Lucy asked.

Roxanne sat on the edge of the bed and said, "Well, we could begin with what an idiot I am."

Lucy raised her eyebrow, "What did you do?"

"Well, let's just say, I wasn't supposed to be off of my tour until November…"

"Did you get kicked out?" Lucy was shocked. She wasn't familiar with the army entirely. What could Roxanne have possibly done to have gotten kicked out?

"Yeah, I guess. It's a long story…"

"Do tell, I'm all ears, nobody has told me their story in a very long time."

"Well, I fell in love." That was very Roxanne like. "Lieutenant Alexander Roof…he had the most dreamy brown eyes you could imagine, he was in my unit and we worked together day in and day out, until that day…he came into my tent and we thought we were alone…and…well, you know what came next…then our boss came in on us, needless to say, that was the end of my career…"

"You were together, like I mean, _together_?" Lucy asked.

Roxanne nodded, "We had sex…"

"I have a feeling you didn't come here just to tell me you had sex," Lucy noted.

"You're right, I didn't," Roxanne sighed, "So I was sent home about three weeks ago and I moved back in with my dad in Glen Oak, I didn't know you had moved so I came over to the church's house and ran into the last person I expected, do you know who took your dad's place at the church?"

Now that Lucy thought about, no, she didn't. She hadn't been home when they had come home to pack up to move to Crossroads, she had been in the hospital. Nobody had told her who had taken her dad's spot and, frankly, she hadn't asked. "Who?" she questioned. There was only one person on her mind that she thought it could possibly be, _No way, that can't be it_, she thought.

"Chandler," Roxanne breathed. _I said it can't be! _Lucy's thought exclaimed.

"Chandler? I thought he was off in Pennsylvania with whatshername?" Lucy asked.

"Well, he was. They broke up like a month or two ago, and he heard about the opening at your dad's church and he jumped on it. He and Jeffrey are living in your old house alone."

Lucy closed her eyes and imagined the house she had once grown up in empty and Camden-less. It was a hard picture to imagine. She imagined Chandler and Jeffrey living in that house all alone, another next-to-impossible picture to imagine. "You didn't come all this way just to tell me Chandler and Jeffrey are living in our old house…did you?"

She shook her head, "Chandler and I talked…a long time, and I think I'm starting to have feelings for him again, and I'm ready to settle down and make a commitment and get married…but there's something I don't know how to tell him."

"You had sex with another guy? Wait. Are you still in love with that guy too?" Lucy jumped to conclusions.

Roxanne shook her head, "No. Alex is gone. He died in the line of duty three days after I left. I would have been with him, I could have died too."

Lucy's heart sunk. The only words she could force out were, "I'm so sorry." Then she questioned, "Why didn't they kick him out too?"

"I wish they had," sighed Roxanne, "And honestly I don't know why either, the military rules are a bit more enforced with the women serving our country than the men."

"That's unjust," stated Lucy.

"I agree, but I would have been kicked out anyway…which is what I haven't been able to tell Chandler, he knows I was with Alex."

"Wait…you're not…?"

"Pregnant, Lucy, I'm pregnant. I found out two days ago, which is why I called Chief Michaels and asked for your number and address, I meant to get in contact with you sooner but…well, you know how life is, plus I was still very ashamed of what I had done."

Lucy laid her right hand over her son, and managed to glance at the clock. It was almost ten o'clock and Kevin was still not home. He had been gone about three hours. What was taking him so long? Lucy was beginning to get worried, and she knew it wasn't good for the baby for her to worry. Now she was beginning to understand why her family members were hiding everything from her, still, she despised it.

"You have to tell Chandler soon," Lucy stated the obvious.

"I know, but I'm afraid he won't want to be with me or support my baby."

"If Chandler is still the same Chandler I once knew, he will support you," Lucy said, "and he already knows you were with the guy."

"True, but this just makes the situation more complicated," sighed Roxanne.

"Well…"

"I know Luce, I didn't come here for a lecture on premarital sex, and I came here for advice."

"I know, I know. I don't know what to tell you other than to tell Chandler. If you want, you can call him up and invite him here and I can help you tell him?"

"Really, Luce? Thank you so much, you're really a great friend." She bent over and gave Lucy a hug. Lucy smiled weakly. She didn't feel like such a great friend in her condition.

She was still wondering where Kevin was, maybe she should call him. He would want to know that Roxanne was there. She couldn't help but wonder what "surprise" could take him so long to obtain?

When Roxanne stepped into the bathroom to call Chandler, Lucy grabbed the phone to call Kevin.

* * *

Coming Up…

Are you wondering what's up with Ruthie and Matt? Find out next chapter!


	5. Ruthie: Consciousness

_Chapter 5_

Ruthie

Ruthie sat in a daze at her brother and sister-in-law's kitchen table. She had been dozing on and off for the last five or so hours. Last night, when Ruthie came over to spend some "quality" time with her older brother the last thing she expected was to find her eldest brother passed out on his couch from an alcoholic substance.

Matt was the brother who had always been there when she needed him. She remembered the time he took her horseback riding and the time she tricked him into buying makeup when her parents wouldn't allow her. He had always given her advice whenever she needed it. Even after he moved away, when she was only twelve, he would always return her phone calls despite his busy schedule whenever she needed him. He had been the model big brother every girl dreamed of having. Ruthie just couldn't perceive him in the state he was in now.

All of the men in Ruthie's life had seemed to turn on her, well, besides her father that was. Well, when she thought about it, even he had turned. He left the church that she had grown up in her entire life. When she was thirteen, he had wanted to leave the church forever. So, even her father had his "issues." He always came to his senses, though. Ruthie hoped the same for Matt.

Simon seemed to come to his senses too, she supposed. There had been a point in his life Ruthie had been very concerned for him. When he was seventeen he killed a kid in her class. No, he didn't do it on purpose. He had hit the boy on his bike with his car. The boy had been high and wasn't wearing a helmet. Simon had taken it hard and Ruthie didn't blame him, though she felt it wasn't his fault. The boy was Ruthie's age and his brother was Simon's age. Simon had been asked by the boy's parents to leave Glen Oak for the sake of the boy's brother. He went to college a year early, like Ruthie.

Simon's reasons were completely different for leaving, so Ruthie didn't even begin to compare herself to him. Ruthie had wanted to leave to be with her boyfriend at the time, T-Bone, but that plan had failed miserably. Simon ended up in getting in all sorts of trouble in college. Mostly it involved: sex. He was the first of the Camden clan—that she knew of anyway—to engage in premarital sex. Simon and their father went round and round, and their dad even sent him off to counseling. Ruthie always thought that was a bit far-fetched, if Simon was going to have sex he was going to have sex and that was that. Therapy didn't make Simon stop having sex. He thought his girlfriend, Georgia, was pregnant. He had called Matt asking for condoms which made Matt furious. Then, the scariest of all, he had found out one of his partners had AIDS and had that scare nobody wanted to have. Simon had been through a lot and Ruthie had felt he had forgotten about her.

He had finally got his life on track, or it appeared so from a distance considering he still did not call Ruthie. A year or so ago, right after he got cold feet marrying his ex-girlfriend Rose, he had ran into the family's favorite ex-girlfriend of his—Cecilia. Cecilia had been through a lot with the Camden family. She had been his current girlfriend when he had hit the boy. Even after Simon left for college Cecilia stayed and helped around the house. Ruthie became jealous at the time and felt like her own mother didn't appreciate her. Needless to say, she got over it. Ruthie had been delighted when Simon announced he had been reacquainted with Cecilia and they were married. She would rather see him with Cecilia than anyone else. Well, she would rather see Cecilia with her brother than with Martin.

_Martin_. Her thoughts came to a halt. How stupid could she have been? She had let him go and chosen T-Bone over Martin. He had a baby, though, and that could never separate him from Sandy. She didn't need the pressure of a relationship _and _a baby that was not hers. She believed that Martin needed to be there for his son, it wasn't fair for him not to be. No child deserves to grow up without a father _and _a mother when both are alive and well. Martin of all people knew that. She would always love Martin deep in her heart, nothing could stop that, she just hoped she could love somebody else as well.

She had hoped that person could be Peter, and still did. After all, she had spent part of an entire year in Scotland with him. He had changed a lot in the years he had moved from Glen Oak. Peter and done unconceivable things she could never imagine. Some she could just let go, others she couldn't. He had gotten a girl pregnant when he was fifteen, but then she got an abortion without his knowing so he left her. Peter had said he would have stayed with her and helped her raise the child. In a selfish way, Ruthie was glad that there was no longer a baby.

Ruthie had always known that Peter had a "rebel" side to him. After all, he had tried smoking at thirteen and drinking at fourteen. Ruthie had considered separating herself from him at that time, but she still loved him. Now, she had a rebel side to her. She still wanted to be successful, though. Ruthie didn't want to let her "rebel" side get in the way of her professional future. She wanted to help teenagers who seemed to have their lives screwed up beyond reversal. The ministry was not for her, she was not meant to preach God's word—that was her sister Lucy's calling. Ruthie believed her calling was to help others, but in a nonreligious sort of way.

At this point and time she didn't know if she would reunite with Peter before he found somebody else. She had been foolish to let go of him as well. Her head began to spin as if she was drunk over all the reasons she had chosen T-Bone. Salty tears filled her eyes as she tried to hold them back every time she would think of how idiotic she had been to choose T-Bone.

Now she just would "see" guys. She didn't have sex with them, she wasn't Simon. Her worst fear was having an AIDS scare like Simon, only for it to not really _just _a scare. What if it could turn out to be real? She had pledged herself to abstain from sex until she found the "one"; she had not pledged herself to wait until marriage. Ruthie wasn't sure if she could wait that long or if she was meant to get married. She had dreamt of getting married when she was young, but after what she had seen her brothers and sisters go through—she wasn't sure if she could. Lucy, out of all her siblings, seemed to have the best marriage. There were few men out there like Kevin, unfortunately. She couldn't speak for Simon and Cecilia's marriage, seeing as she knew nothing about it.

Ruthie had opted to skip her two classes today. Skipping them wouldn't hurt her, she figured. She had A's in both of them and had turned in all the work and read all the chapters. Also, she emailed her professors explaining her "family emergency." Intro to Psychology was probably one of the easiest classes she had ever had. She had a similar class in high school, so she pretty much knew everything that they were going over. The other class, Modern Literature, basically was all reading. She had finished the last of the assigned books last night. Three of them she had read in high school. Ruthie hadn't missed a class yet, so it wasn't like she was "prone" to skipping. She was just thankful she wasn't missing her History of Psychology class. That was one class you had to be there because the professor would test you on 75% lecture and 25% readings. None of the lectures were in the readings.

She had spent last evening scrubbing the house of all traces of vomit. When Matt came to terms with consciousness and was sober, she planned on giving him a long juicy lecture which she had been rehearsing over and over in her head so it would come out perfectly when she finally got the opportunity to give it.

The more and more she thought, Ruthie felt guiltier of how she spoke to Sarah. She realized Sarah could have thrown him into some asylum. While Ruthie understood that Matt needed help, she knew he wasn't crazy. For the longest time she had thought he was one of the most sane members of the family. He was at least the most _rational _of all the family members. She thought of what he had told Simon after his accident: "God looks after us through our own consciousness, and those moments when we're not watching ourselves go through life, accidents occur. We're not capable of watching ourselves every moment, so accidents happen." Matt really needed is own advice at this time in his life. Ruthie was willing to give it to him. She hoped she could rationalize with her brother and get him to see it himself before he _did _end up in an asylum.

Ruthie jolted to full consciousness when the phone rang. She remembered she had hung up the phone last night hoping to get some sleep because of its annoying continuous beeping noise. She didn't know how anyone could possibly sleep with that constant pulsing sound. "Hello?" she whispered into the receiver, she glanced over at the couch where Matt still lay and noticed he was stirring. _Is he waking up? _She wondered. In an effort to avoid her brother seeing her quite yet, she hustled around the corner into the bathroom.

"Sarah?" a familiar voice asked.

"No, it's Ruthie—Simon?"

"Ruthie! What are you doing at Matt and Sarah's at this time? How is Matt? Sarah said he was sick yesterday."

"Simon, you do realize it's five in the morning here—right?"

"Yeah, I know, I called bright and early hoping to get him before he went to work—it's only two in the morning here," Simon laughed. "So, is Matt there? I really do need to talk to him." Apparently someone had failed to inform Simon that Matt was on "leave."

Ruthie sighed. In order for Simon to have to talk Matt it _must _mean that he was in some sort of trouble. She wasn't used to both of her brothers being in trouble at the same time. It was quite normal for Simon to be in some sort of trouble. They had never been unable to turn to Matt. "Look, Matt's really ill, I don't think this is a good time," she didn't want to go into explanation, "However, _I'm _available—you know your _sister_, the one you used to tell _everything_."

"Um, Ruthie, I really need Matt. It's a brother thing," Simon indicated.

"Well you're my brother," Ruthie rolled her eyes.

"I am, but…Ruthie, it's hard to say no to you," Simon sighed.

Ruthie smiled weakly to herself. It was hard to say "no" to her, which is why for the longest time she knew everyone in the family's secrets. "So what's up?" Ruthie asked.

"I…gosh, I don't know if I should tell you," Ruthie heard Simon sighing over the line.

"What do you mean?" Ruthie asked and continued, "You can tell me anything."

"Remember Sandy?"

_How could I forget that slut? _Ruthie thought to herself and sounded, "Mhm."

"Well . . . remember when Sandy wanted to talk to me urgently Rose and my wedding?"

"Yes."

"Well . . . she asked me if I would be willing to give her a sample DNA because she had a gut feeling that Aaron might not be Martin's . . . and I told her I wouldn't consent. Martin was obviously the father and she had to accept that . . ." he trailed off.

_Simon! _Ruthie yelled to herself. _What if he IS the father? What if Martin isn't? Does that mean…? _She stopped. Ruthie couldn't let herself to get her hopes up. She didn't even know where Martin was, but she was sure Aaron was already calling him, "Daddy." She wondered if Sandy and Martin ever got married, she knew they had discussed it. However, Ruthie also knew that they had never been compatible, they were just saying together for the benefit of their son.

"Wow, Simon, why?" she asked. _Why hadn't he given her a sample of his DNA? Why had Simon and Sandy made her go through this? If Simon had found out he was Aaron's father in the beginning, she may have never ended up with that bonehead T-Bone. Why Sandy told Martin that he was the father knowing the possibility it could be Simon's baby? Why, why, why?_ Her thoughts were in an endless circle of emotions. Then it occurred to her, _why is he bringing this up now? _

"I don't know why, I didn't want to accept that Aaron could be mine . . . I wasn't ready to be a father, and now here I am about to be a father. . ."

Ruthie cut in, "Why are you bringing this up now?"

"Because Sandy called me yesterday and said she was bringing Aaron up to see me today and I don't know what to do. I haven't told Cecilia anything about Sandy, I tried begging Sandy not to come … but she said it was important," Simon sighed.

Ruthie looked into the bathroom mirror at her dark brown curly hair. Her eyes were without makeup, a rarity for her these days. She tried to imagine Martin standing next to her, tall and dark. It was so difficult. She hadn't seen his oval face in so long. Her heart began to thump like a stress ball.

She didn't know what to say to Simon, her thoughts were so messed up and in a knot. Suddenly it began to feel very hot in the bathroom; then she remembered Matt. Ha he woken up? Was he disorientated and confused? "Simon, I have to go, I'll talk to you later . . . good luck," Ruthie told him.

"Ruthie! Do me a favor. Don't tell anyone what I just told you—I want to talk to Matt, still, so if you can let him know I called?"

"Ok, I won't tell anyone and I'll let Matt know when he is up to it," Ruthie hung up before Simon could say anything else. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. It was unbelievable that Simon would let Sandy go on unsure whether that the man her son was calling "Dada" was really his daddy. Ruthie wondered if Martin was still with Sandy, odds are he was—unless Sandy came clean with him. Martin would not want his son to grow up without a father.

Just as she was about to turn the knob on the bathroom door a knock sounded, "Sarah?" her brother's soothing voice sounded. He sounded sober, but Ruthie couldn't be sure. She hadn't exactly heard her eldest brother "drunk", but she had heard other drunks. One of them had been Simon, but that was another story in itself.

"It's Ruthie, Matt," Ruthie opened the door and connected her brown eyes to her brother's own brown eyes. He looked beat, his hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days and he smelled of alcohol and body odor. It was obvious he hadn't showered recently. Ruthie had never known her brother not to practice good hygiene. He had gone through a stage in his youth where he had been "scruffy" and long haired. Never had he lacked hygiene.

"Uh… where are Sarah and the twins?" his face full of confusion.

"Sarah took the twins and fled, you were passed out when she came home and she was scared," Ruthie sighed, "I kind of blew up at her over the phone . . ." Tears started rolling from her eyes. She couldn't do this. She couldn't see her brother blow his future like this. Here she wanted to be a counselor for teenagers and she couldn't even counsel her own brother. It was different when it was your own family, though. Now she understood why doctors never had their own family as patients.

"Why are you crying?" Matt inquired.

"Because I love you, and I can't see you like this," Ruthie cried, she fell into Matt's arms and he wrapped his arms around her. She held onto him never wanting to let go. She couldn't imagine Matt not being there for her. He had been there since the day she was born. She couldn't picture a time when she couldn't call him on the phone to hear his voice.

"Ruthie, I love you too," he whispered, "I'm sorry."

"So you'll get counseling? You'll quit drinking and moping around? You'll go back to work? You'll make things right with Sarah? You'll be a father to your sons?" Ruthie spit out. A mix of emotions rushed through her veins. She was sad, angry, annoyed, and hopeful all at the same time. She repeated, "God looks after us through our own consciousness, and those moments when we're not watching ourselves go through life, accidents occur. We're not capable of watching ourselves every moment, so accidents happen." She looked up at her brother's face to spot a weak smile.

"My words," he whispered. She nodded in remembrance. He spoke, "You're right. I need to quit moping around. I need to get my wife back, and my sons. I've been down for so long . . . I need to move on and practice what I preach."

"Why did it take my coming and Sarah's leaving for you to realize that?" Ruthie asked pulling out of her brother's arms staring him down.

"I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to practice what you preach," Matt sighed, "You don't realize how difficult something is until you experience it yourself."

Ruthie believed that. She didn't understand how difficult relationships were until she had experienced them herself. All her life she had seen Mary and Lucy go from guy to guy. She never imagined her relationships would be just as complicated or if not more complicated. Here she had been giving them advice from her inexperienced self. Now she was screwed up beyond means. All she wanted to do was to get her own life back on track and she had a feeling stepping back in the past—to Martin—could potentially be a bad idea.

"What do we do now?" Ruthie asked.

"That's a good question, what do we do? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"I emailed my professors explaining I had a family emergency."

Matt chuckled, "I take it you learned that from me." Every time he and Sarah had come home during medical school they would come up with the fact they had a "family emergency."

"No, not really, this is a family emergency," Ruthie winked.

Matt sighed, "I guess it is. I need to see Sarah – do you have any idea where she is?"

"I called Kevin and told him to call me if she came there to call me—but it's only like three thirty there, so nothing … you on the other hand need to take a shower and shave and all that other hygienic stuff."

Matt laughed, "You're right ... wow, I haven't laughed so much since … uh, you know … you need to come around more often, Ruthie."

Ruthie smiled delicately, "I guess I do, but only if you get Sarah back and get into therapy."

Several hours passed and Matt cleaned up to his "normal" self. Ruthie turned on their television to pass some time. She enjoyed watching shows like _Little House on the Prairie _and _Full House_. Her class was at seven, so she didn't get to watch a lot of these daytime shows anymore. Plus, her dorm didn't have cable. If she wanted to see cable she had to go down to the lobby and the guys were always down there watching sports, which she didn't appreciate too heavily.

She did everything humanly possible to draw her mind away from Simon, Martin, and Sandy. Even though she knew she had promised Simon she would mention he called to Matt, she didn't. When the time was right she figured she could say something. Matt wasn't ready for any added stress if he was just willing to admit he needed help. She wasn't going to blow that for him.

When Matt returned his hair had been neatly combed and parted, he smelled of cologne, and he had shaved. He had put on some blue jeans and a flannel shirt. Earlier, he had been wearing a sweat suit that looked like it hadn't been washed for days. This was the Matt that Ruthie had known for almost eighteen years. The Matt that had been there for her from the day she was born was standing in front of her. It was now almost ten, she couldn't believe it had taken him that long to "spiffy" up.

Ruthie wondered about Kevin. She wondered if Sarah had called him and if he would call her. Then she figured he wouldn't. If Sarah told him anything at all about her, then he wouldn't. Kevin had become really close to Matt over the years, and Ruthie happened to know that Kevin and Sarah had begun talking a lot recently. Ruthie sighed. She would have to call him. Matt needed to talk to Sarah. They needed to get everything sorted out.

"Ruthie, can we go on a walk in the park? I need some fresh air. I haven't left this house in days." Matt suggested. A walk in the park was a good idea. She looked outside and saw it had clouded over. It wasn't raining and it actually looked rather calm and peaceful out. A nice late morning walk would be suitable.

"Yeah, sure, but can I call Kevin first? I want to know if Sarah is there."

"Call Kevin, but if Sarah had told him anything I think he would have been the first to call here."

"Not if Sarah told him not to, you do know they've been really close lately, right?"

"No … but I guess I don't know anything anymore."

Ruthie winked and pulled out her cell phone to make that phone call to Kevin.


	6. Discord and Feeble

You may notice I went back and gave the previous chapters actual "names." I did this because starting with this chapter I'm going to have more than one point of view per chapter and it drives me nuts to have the first five chapters all names; then suddenly start "naming" them.

I won't go with more than two points of views a chapter, it simply gets too confusing. This chapter will go back and forth between Sarah and Ruthie.

_**Warning!**__ Brief use of derisive language is used in this chapter. _

* * *

Chapter 6

"_Discord and Feeble_"

_Sarah_

The bright morning sun gleamed through the motel room. Sarah was sitting on the floor with her twin sons playing with "puppets" with some socks she had made for the boys when they were very small. The puppet socks used to be the only way she could get them to quit crying. From a very young age they would giggle when the "sock" would talk, so she had put buttons on the socks in their respective eye and nose locations. Now, the boys expected her to tell them stories with the puppets all the time.

Every now and then she would look up to the glass window to see if Kevin was here. She kept wonder if she had done the right thing. A couple years ago if Matt had done this she would have just committed him to an institution and flown the coop. Having children changed everything. She didn't want to have to be the one to tell her sons when they asked, "Where's Daddy?" when they got a little older that he was in some sort of asylum because he couldn't get a handle on his depression after a patient's baby was stillborn and the patient was in a coma. In her heart she believed that Matt didn't need an institution, she believed that her husband was the same Matt deep down, all he needed was a little "reminder." She hoped Ruthie could give him that.

Her thoughts drew to _Ruthie_. Ruthie hated her now. She didn't blame her, it wasn't right to have just left Matt there and the house a mess for Ruthie to "handle." All she could hope when it was all said and done Ruthie would find it in her heart to forgive her. Sarah thought about calling her and apologizing but she just couldn't find the nerve. She wasn't ready to face Ruthie _or _Matt. Matt could be awake and she didn't want to hear his "sorry" game that he always tried to play. Of course, in order for them to work things out he would have to apologize. She didn't want an immediate apology now, Sarah only wanted to hear an "I'm sorry" after Matt had checked _himself _into a psychologist and got his problems talked out without someone. Only, and _only_, that would prove to her that he truly was going to take steps to change.

Finally, after almost an hour of anxiety and anticipation, she heard a vehicle pull into a parking spot outside. She sprung up from the floor without a second guess and looked out the window to see Kevin's confused face in the driver's seat of a van. Sarah pushed open the door, the twins standing right behind her, and found herself in Kevin's arms, "Thank you Kevin, you're a life saver!"

"Auntie Sarah!" a small girl's voice chortled from the passenger's seat. Savannah and grown up so much since she had last seen her which was about a year ago. Lucy and Kevin always sent up-to-date pictures every couple months or so, but even since then Savannah had grown.

"Hi Savannah, sweetie!" Sarah waved to her niece. Then turning to Kevin she said, "She's grown so much."

"Yup, she certainly has, and wow—look at the boys, they've grown so much too! Our kids just can't quit growing, can they?" Kevin smiled taking note to the twins who had sad down on the grass and were pulling out dandelions from the ground.

"No—they can't," Sarah said running over to the twins, "Don't do that, boys!" She pulled the dandelions from their hands and both boys started crying.

Kevin started walking into their motel room, "Don't worry about your luggage—I'll get it."

Sarah managed to get the fussy twins into their car seats and into the first row in the back seat; Savannah was in the far back. Savannah started making silly faces at the boys which turned their cries into giggles. Sarah sighed in relief to Kevin, "I think Savannah is going to make a great big sister."

Kevin laughed, "It's funny, because Lucy and I have been worried about that—we were actually hoping to get her around her cousins to _practice_, and here you showed up today!"

Sarah smiled wryly. He wouldn't be so blissful once he found out _why _she was here. She would have to get to that sooner or later.

"Speaking of which, what brings you and the boys here without Matt?" Kevin asked, she had to know that was coming.

"I'll explain later, I'm not going to lie to you," she said in contrary to her original _plan_. Telling Matt's family might be the only way to get him to truly wake up and smell the roses without committing him.

Kevin nodded and started driving towards the high way. The car was in complete silence for several minutes. Sarah drifted in and out of a handful of thoughts and emotions until she was nudged back into awareness with the _Welcome to Crossroads _sign.

"Kevin, can we stop at a park or something?" Sarah spat, "I'm not ready to face Lucy or Annie or any of the rest of the family."

Kevin raised his eyebrow in suspicion, "Okay...I guess we can." He turned the corner a block later which led them straight to the parking lot of playground that had a sign that read "Crossroads Memorial Playground."

"Park!" Savannah yelled with glee. "Can cousins and I play, please?"

Sarah smiled in light of Savannah's manners. She figured every parent dreamed of having a child with decent manners and respect. Sarah realized she couldn't have picked a better family to marry into even if sometimes she appreciated her husband's family more than her husband.

Kevin turned to her and said, "Sure, why don't you go and play with Noah and Jacob while I talk to your aunt?"

"Yay!" cooed Savannah.

Kevin lifted Savannah and then the twins out of the car. Savannah grabbed the twins' hands, whom were only about five inches shorter than her, and walked them towards the sandbox. "We gonna make sand castles!" exclaimed Savannah.

"They're so cute together," Kevin smiled, "I can't wait to have a son of my own, after seeing Savannah with the twins already that weight seems to have been lifted off my chest."

Sarah tried to smile, but she just couldn't. She kept rehearsing over and over in her head how she would tell Kevin about the last couple weeks at home. His reaction she could not conceive, but knowing Kevin he would not show emotion. That was one trait Kevin had that did bother her, he did not show emotion. Sarah always had shown emotion as long as she could remember. She had been called a "drama queen" when she was younger.

A few yards or so away, two women not much older than her were sitting on a bench whispering, staring, and point at Kevin and Sarah. Sarah thought, _"What could they possible want?" _She found herself staring back at them in anticipation, but when she did the two women looked away pretending as if she wasn't.

"I see them too," Kevin whispered, "I'm used to it."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked in curiosity.

"Those two women go to our church, they're probably wondering who you are … I can imagine what they're saying," Kevin laughed.

"What would that be?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, they're probably saying you're my second wife, we're having an affair, or something along those lines," Kevin chuckled.

Sarah rolled her eyes in disgust, "Well that's stupid."

"Tell me about it, but I hear crap like that everyday around here—I thought Glen Oak was the center for gossip, but this place is ten times worse." A buzz came from Kevin's cell phone, presumably his cell phone, "One sec, it's probably Luce." He pulled out his cell phone and answered, "Hello?" A brief pause occurred and he put his finger over the phone's mouthpiece and whispered, "Ruthie."

_Ruthie_. She was probably calling to see if she was in fact here. Ruthie was smart and incredulously clever. Obviously she would be able to figure out this is where she was. "I don't want to talk to her," Sarah muttered, "You can tell her I'm here, but say I'm not available." There was no point in lying to Ruthie, besides she could never ask Kevin to lie for her. They would all find out sooner or later.

"Yeah, Ruthie, she's here, but she's unavailable right now," Kevin spoke. More pauses occurred. "Uh-huh, I see. No, I don't, why?"

_ "Oh crap. What is she telling him?"_ Sarah pondered. She wondered if he was telling him everything. Ruthie wouldn't do that, would she? Well, she might. Ruthie didn't have a reason to hold back information from Kevin. Sarah wanted to pull her hair out—the tension was eating at her throat.

* * *

_Ruthie_

"I just wanted Aunt Julie's phone number to catch up with her and all," Ruthie told Kevin over the phone. She had stepped out of the house to talk to Kevin in private. Matt was still inside looking for his shoes. He hadn't left the house in days and hadn't worn shoes in days. Apparently he had managed to "misplace" them. Ruthie found that whole fiasco quite amusing.

"If I were home I could look in the little book Lucy keeps of all the family members' phone numbers and all, but I'm not. When I get home I'll call you back, alright?"

"Okay." _Where are he and Sarah that Sarah isn't available? _Ruthie wondered if Sarah just told Kevin to say that so she could avoid her. That was the most likely scenario. She didn't blame her; after all she had been pretty harsh with her. Sarah probably figured she was ratting Matt out to Kevin. She couldn't do that, it wasn't her place. If anyone needed to tell anyone his "situation" it was Matt himself. It wasn't anyone elses business. In order for Matt go get help Matt had to ask, Ruthie was a firm believer in that. Nobody can force anyone to receive help. Ruthie thought her brother Simon was a prime example of that. Her father had tried to force him into "therapy" after finding out he was having premarital sex. Did it help? No. Why? Simply because Simon didn't want help, thus he continued to have sex. To receive help one must seek it.

Who better to tell Matt that than: Aunt Julie? Ruthie did not have her aunt's phone number; she hadn't been in contact with her in years. In fact, she hadn't seen her since Lucy's wedding. She knew that Matt had been in contact with her husband, Uncle Hank, various times throughout the years for him to set up jobs and all. Aunt Julie had been so busy working as a teacher and taking care of their two children, Erica and Nolan. Erica was a grade younger than Sam and David and in the second grade. Nolan was now four and in pre-school. Ruthie felt bad for never really getting to "know" her only cousins.

"Well, bye Kevin, call me back okay?" Ruthie requested.

"Soon as I get home," Kevin promised.

She turned off her phone just in time, as she jumped in shock with the sound of the door slamming. Ruthie spun around and came face to face with her eldest brother. She studied him from head to toe, noting that he was wearing slippers. "Um, Matt?" she questioned.

"They were all I could find!" exclaimed Matt with a quirky smile. Ruthie busted out laughing; only her brother Matt would think to wear _slippers_. He continued, "Anyway, what conversation you were having with Kevin was so important you had to step outside? You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

"Um, no, I didn't. I was just talking to him about Sarah," she fibbed a bit.

Matt raised his eyebrow, "Good … because I wouldn't want him to think I needed help. I plan to be in perfect shape as soon as possible—and that's without involving the rest of the family."

"Um, you do realize Sarah is probably going to tell them everything?"

"Why would she? She promised she wouldn't."

Ruthie didn't want to explain, she truly didn't. She was scared for Matt, she had thought he was back to "normal", but obviously if he couldn't see this he wasn't. He was the one who always preached, "You're never too old to do what your mother tells you to." Matt was the one who always preached that it was important to talk to your parents no matter how old you were. Yet, here he was—thinking he could "hide" this who situation. He had to know deep down that he couldn't. They were _Camden _children after all. Nothing went "hidden" in the Camden family.

* * *

_Sarah_

Kevin had just hung up the phone and was gazing at her in a confused emotionless way. It was impossible to tell what Kevin truly felt, regardless to what he was thinking he gave off this emotionless and mellow expression. Matt was completely the opposite. Sarah could always tell when something was wrong with him; maybe it was because they had lived with each other for nearly six years now.

"That was odd," Kevin spoke, "What's going on with you and Matt now?"

"What was odd?" Sarah avoided the question momentarily.

"Oh, Ruthie just wanted Julie's number … you know, Dad's sister?" _I wonder why_, Sarah sarcastically thought. She knew exactly why Ruthie would want Julie's phone number. Obviously she wanted her to "knock" some sense into Matt from experience. Why hadn't she thought of that? That would have saved a trip to California, then she looked over and her sons and Savannah. They seemed so happy together, maybe there was a reason she had jumped to come out here. Everything in life happened for a reason. "Sarah, are you alright?" Kevin was waving his hand in front of her face, "You seem disorientated."

She shook her head, "No, I'm fine, I was just thinking about how happy Savannah and the boys look together … she's going to make a great big sister."

"So, do you think anymore children are in Matt and your future?" Kevin just had to ask.

Sarah sighed, "As of now? I doubt it."

"That's a shame, why not?" At least he was leading her on.

She spit it all out in just one breath, telling Kevin everything – from her coming home a week or so ago to Matt "passed out" and the twins starving, to how he had been moping around for weeks after the loss, and to last night. She told him how she couldn't stand to be around him and how she feared for the safety for the twins. Sarah found herself in tears, real tears. She didn't cry often in front of others simply because she didn't want to appear "weak." Sarah had always wanted to have that "strong woman" image. She didn't believe in weakness, but she was handling this situation like a powerless helpless woman in need of a man. All her life she had believed she didn't need anyone to make her decisions for her, like she had went against her parents' wishes by not marrying a Jew. Now she was beginning to wonder if her parents had been right—she didn't want to think that, she loved Matt—or at least she thought she did.

Kevin was speechless, but he wrapped his arms around her to comfort her without saying a word. His body of fire felt like a fireplace next to her iceberg skin. Even though it was almost ninety degrees out Sarah's insides felt frozen. She kept her eyes closed not wanting to face herself or Kevin. A small tug pulled on her hand, "Momma?" Sarah pulled herself out of Kevin's arms to see her two little boys standing there next to their cousin.

"Auntie Sarah what wrong?" Savannah asked as she wrapped her arms around Sarah, "I love you."

"Aww, I love you too Savannah, it's nothing honey," Sarah told her wiping the tears off her eyes. Smudged eyeliner from this morning's application now stained her pale hand.

"Why you crying?" Savannah questioned. "And why Daddy hugging you?"

"Don't you worry about it," Sarah assured her niece.

"Maybe we should get going home?" suggested Kevin then turning to Sarah he said, "That is if you're ready, Sarah?" He still hadn't commented on Matt and with the kids here now she figured it was best he didn't.

"Let's go then," whispered Sarah still with a snot bubble clogged in the back of her throat that made it difficult for her to speak clearly. She glanced over where the women were sitting before only to see them still there and whispering. _Great_, she thought. She didn't even want to begin to imagine what they were saying, all she knew was they gave them reason to "flight."

* * *

_Ruthie_

"Well, if we're going to the park, let's go," Ruthie told her brother changing their previous subject.

"Alright, I'll grab my keys."

"No offense or anything, but I'm not sure how stable you are to drive, I'll drive…and we'll go in _my _car," Ruthie told him. Just because he was sane enough to get dressed didn't mean he was completely "sober" and she wasn't taking any chances. Ruthie knew that alcohol could be detected in an alcohol test for up to two hours. She had never drunk herself, so she didn't know how long that alcohol could affect simple tasks like driving. Plus, she didn't know how high his Blood Alcohol Content had been. She figured if he wasn't sane enough to know that Sarah was going to rat him out to the whole family, he definitely wasn't sane enough to drive.

"Ruthie, what's your freaking problem? I'm fine."

"No, Matt, you aren't."

"Yes. Yes I am. I told you I would seek treatment."

"Matt, for God's sake—yes, you said you would. Have you? No. Until you _do_, you can't say you're receiving help."

"Ruthie, you know what? Get the fuck off my property." _Fuck_, Ruthie thought. She had never heard Matt say that word before. In fact, she couldn't remember at time when he had sworn in front of her. A tear started to roll down her cheek out of her control. Her eldest brother had lost control, he wasn't Matt anymore.

The sound of the telephone ringing from the inside sounded through the walls. _Sarah? _Ruthie wondered. _No, Sarah wouldn't call this soon_. Ruthie now understood why Sarah left, Matt was not only depressed, but he was bipolar. Not long ago she had been convinced that he really was going to seek help. Now she looked at him and saw a completely different person she had seen earlier today. He really did need help, and she really did need Aunt Julie to help her—obviously Ruthie couldn't do this all on her own.

Ruthie started to run towards the house, she wanted to get the phone before Matt. Matt was not in any condition to talk to _anyone_. Even though he had just sworn at her to get off of his property, she still cared for him. Nothing could step between their sibling bonds; no matter how much Matt hated her. "Didn't I just tell you to get off my freaking property?" Matt yelled as she shoved her down the steps and ran into the house, "Go away Ruthie!"

She felt a tingle in her elbow, it had been scraped against the concrete pavement. It wasn't bleeding, but the scrape burned. Slowly, Ruthie got back on her feet and walked toward the house trying not to make a sound. She pressed her ear next to the door to hear who it was.

"Hello?" Pause. "Simon!"

_Well it looks like Simon gets what Simon wanted, _Ruthie sighed. She just hoped that Matt would be able to give him _rational _advice. Her thoughts turned back to Martin and how she longed to hear his voice. She knew it wasn't wise to leave Matt alone now, but he couldn't do any harm to himself while he was on the phone with Simon. Ruthie decided to head back to the college and catch her second class of the day since she obviously wasn't welcomed anymore.

* * *

_Sarah_

Kevin had just pulled into his driveway behind two cars. One, Sarah recognized as one of the Camden vehicles, the other she didn't. She had never seen this red convertible before. "Is anyone else here?" she asked Kevin.

"Just Mom that I'm aware of, but in this family who truly knows?"

He did make a good point. Sarah couldn't imagine having random people drop by her house all day long. She enjoyed the quiet life in the suburbs where hardly anyone ever bothered anyone. That was one fact that made her really leery about moving back to California. She would have random Camden relatives and Glass relatives on their doorstep everyday.

After unloading the three children, Kevin and Sarah made their way to the front door. "By the way, I told Lucy I would be home about two hours ago—I didn't plan for us stopping at the park—so if she's a bit feisty, don't be surprised," Kevin warned. Just as he said that a buzzing sound came from his pocket. He answered, "Hello?" A brief pause and then, "Luce, you just always have perfect timing, I just pulled in the drive way with my surprise" while looking at Sarah and the boys.

Sarah gave a half smile, which she found hard. Her hands were clammy and her head was throbbing from crying still. She almost felt like she had a fever coming on. This was _not _the time for her to be getting sick—then again, there was never a time for that when you were a doctor and a mother.

Kevin hung up the phone and whispered to Sarah, "So, what's the game plan?"

"We're going to have to tell the truth," Sarah muttered, "At least to Annie." She didn't have the _spunk _to call Annie "Mom" like Kevin did. It was just a habit of hers and habits were not easily broken.

"As much as I hate keep secrets from my wife, this would not be good for her," Kevin agreed, "Lucy just needs to understand sometimes people don't tell her things like this for a reason."

"Daddy has secret!" Savannah exclaimed, "Oooooooooooo." They had forgotten Savannah and the boys were there, and more importantly they had forgotten Savannah was old enough now to _tell _on them.

"Savannah," Kevin picked his daughter up and told her, "Sometimes secrets are secrets for very good reasons, do you understand?"

Savannah nodded, "Like us picking up Auntie Sarah, Noah, and Jake at the airport?"

"Exactly," Kevin said, "This is exactly like that, which means Savannah needs to not say anything to Mommy, do you understand?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Savannah eagerly. "I keep secret! I good girl."

Kevin let Savannah down and she ran into the house. The twins were both still standing down clinging to Sarah's legs. They tended to be shy in new locations; getting them down once they realized they weren't at home last night in the motel had been a bear. Sarah was surprised they had taken such a liking to Savannah.

"What are the odds she'll keep quiet?" Sarah asked.

"Slim," Kevin sighed, "She almost blurted to Lucy that we were picking you up today, fortunately I stopped her."

Sarah sighed in anxiety, "Well, let's get this over with." She picked up the twins and entered the house behind Kevin.

The house had a fresh scent to it, fresher than Matt and her home had been in weeks. A _Glad_ cinnamon smell lingered up her nostrils. Annie was standing at the counter across the room mixing some type of treat like she always was. Sarah swore all she did all day was cook. She could never imagine staying home and cooking all day long. Sarah's attention span was far too short for that, she always had to be doing something _different_. She liked variety in her life and preferred to be a bit spontaneous at times.

"Sarah!" Annie let out in a cry as they entered. "Savannah here was just telling me that her daddy had a surprise—and let me tell you, this is a splendid surprise!"

Kevin eyeballed his daughter who smiled and blurted, "I say nothing! Surprise!"

"Of course Savannah didn't tell me Sarah and the boys were here, I was truly surprised when I saw you guys walk in! So where's Matt, Sarah?" Annie came over and gave the boys a kiss on the forehead and taking Noah from Sarah's arms.

"He's not feeling that great," Sarah openly admitted.

"Ah, I can see why you would want to get the boys out of the house if he's sick, you don't need sick twins," she smiled, then her facial expression went down ward as she studied her, "You don't look like you're feeling that great yourself, perhaps you've caught whatever Matt has, you do look feverish." Annie placed her cold hand on Sarah's forehead, "You're definitely warm, I'll tell you what; how about you go over to our house and relax? Don't worry about the boys, I'll watch them."

Sarah sighed. She didn't want to relax; she wanted to talk to Annie about Matt. She found herself coughing uncontrollably in a few short seconds. Perhaps she was really coming down sick, but if she was it wasn't because of Matt, it was because of the unbearable stress she had been under that was weakening her immune system. She came to realize her throat felt like it was on fire. _"Great, now I'm exposing Lucy to whatever I have," _Sarah thought. She hadn't intended on bringing a virus with her to California.

"Seriously, Sarah, go relax—Eric's down at the church, so I'll give you our house key, it's the house way at the end of the block," Annie insisted pointing in the direction toward a two story blue house on the corner. Then she added, "You can find some Tylenol in the bathroom, help yourself."

Sarah nodded and left leaving the boys in the care of their grandmother, she felt it was beneficial for the boys finally to get some bonding time with their extended family.

* * *

Sorry, but like aarent said, there would be no story line with Matt being back to normal. Besides, I love him too much for him to be back to normal.

_**PS-**__ I would love some more reviews, though I understand (especially after this chapter) since I've been updating every few days or so, there is a lot to catch up on._


	7. Drinking and Thinking

I guess you can argue this whole story is a bit of an alternate universe…once Matt lost his cool, so did the rest of the family…

* * *

Chapter 7

_"Drinking and Thinking"_

_ Simon _

"Matt, it's great finally to _get _you, I got Sarah last night and Ruthie this morning, they both said something about you being ill," Simon told his eldest brother, Matt, after finally reaching him having been calling for two days straight. He added, "I hope you're feeling better."

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, I had a head cold last night and slept pretty much all yesterday," Matt's voice indicated. Simon took note to Matt's _strange _tone. He sounded different, Simon couldn't quite pinpoint how; he just did. Simon pushed that thought to the back of his mind, he was sure it was nothing – he just wanted Matt's advice, or him to tell him what he wanted to hear.

"I need your advice," Simon sighed, "I have a problem."

"Oh? What's up now, Simon?" Matt asked.

Simon told him everything, starting with his stupid mistake two Mays ago when he had refused to give Sandy his DNA for a paternity test. He told him how foolish he was to automatically rule out the possibility that Aaron could be his child. It wasn't that he didn't adore Aaron, he was adorable. Simon didn't love Sandy, even though he knew that Sandy had only slept with Martin to make him jealous and had succeeded. Every time he saw Aaron he saw a miniature male version of Sandy, there was no resemblance to him—but then again, there was no resemblance to Martin either. For all Simon knew, there was a third guy in the picture—apparently Sandy "got around." He had to give her credit for changing her life around after Aaron was born. She was now working as an associate pastor in a town right on the outskirts of Glen Oak. Back then, Simon never could have imagined Sandy preaching God's message.

Simon often contemplated why he had refused to give her the DNA. He thought of how he had been eager to settle down with Georgia in his sophomore year of college when he thought she was pregnant, even though she wasn't really pregnant. What had changed in those two years? Sandy and Georgia were completely different people. Yet, both had done similar acts. Georgia had lied all around to him about being pregnant. What she had done was unconceivable and Simon couldn't forgive her for it. Sandy had lied to everyone telling them that Martin was the only possible father for her son.

"I thought you and Sandy were never intimate?" Matt accused when Simon had finished his confession.

Simon closed his eyes, memories he had kept repressed in the back of his mind for two years flooded him all at once. _He could smell the faint whisky on coming from her breath as her soft hands seduced him. He, too, had been drinking and felt faintly dizzy. It was his first time actually "drinking" knowingly at a college party. His lips were locked with hers and he couldn't hold back. His eyes were not focused and even her face was a blur…_ "Simon?" Matt's voice repeated, "Didn't you say before you never slept with her before?"

"I was drunk," was all Simon could get out. It was no excuse, in fact, it made the matters worse. He had only drank at a couple parties, and hardly got drunk. He had only been _drunk _at one point in his life, and that was when he was fifteen and had unknowingly drank alcohol at a high school party he had begged his older friend to take him to.

Matt didn't speak for many moments. Then he said, "I thought you didn't drink."

"I only did a few times," Simon defended his self.

"I see. So, if you wouldn't have drunk you wouldn't be in this predicament," Matt insisted, "But you are, and you can't really change that."

_State the obvious, Matt, why don't you, _Simon was thinking.

"Well, what do you want me to tell you?" Matt asked, "You got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out."

_How the heck am I supposed to do that? _Simon was getting irritated; it wasn't like Matt not to have some words of wisdom for him. Even when he had first had sex, and Matt knew he was sexually active, he had talked to their parents for him before Simon did. He remembered how he had tried to get Matt to talk to them for him, but that was foolish. Matt had told him _he _needed to talk to them, but still, he had been there to support him.

"I want you to tell me what to do!" Simon cried, and then he realized that he wanted Matt to tell him what he _wanted to hear_. "I want you to tell me to stay with Cecilia! I want you to tell me that Aaron isn't my child! I want you to tell me Sandy's a crazy bitch who wants to ruin my life! I want…"

"—Simon," Matt cut in, "You're being ridiculously selfish, but I have a solution for it all: since you screwed Sandy over, why not just ditch Cecilia too and go find what's her name? Your first girlfriend, Deena, that's right, Deena!"

_What the hell! _Simon fumed to himself. This was not _Matt _advice. The Matt he knew would never tell him to ditch the mother of his child. Simon hadn't heard from Deena since she had broken his heart a few years back when she returned to Glen Oak. He saw no future with her, but he couldn't help now wonder where she was. "Matt, who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Simon demanded. "I could never—." He turned around to see Cecilia, who was glowing at four months pregnant, standing there with her hand over her small bump. They were scheduled to find out the gender of the baby tomorrow and Simon had been looking forward to that—up until Sandy called and sidetracked him.

"I don't know Simon, but who are _you_ and what have you done with my brother who actually cared and respected women?" Matt spat back at him.

Simon met eyes with his wife whose eyes showed curiosity and a little anger. He wondered how much she had heard. With his luck, she had probably heard the whole conversation. "I have to go," he told Matt and hung up the phone before Matt could respond.

Cecilia sauntered slowly toward him. She gazed in his eyes and whispered, "What was that about?"

"How much did you hear?" Simon questioned suspiciously.

"Why does it matter? You aren't planning on _lying _to me are you?"

"No, not at all," Simon sighed.

"So, what's this I hear about you staying with me?"

_Great, that means she heard the part about Aaron being my child_. "I have a lot of explaining to do," Simon sighed.

* * *

_Matt_

_I can't believe I just told Simon to leave his wife, _Matt thought as she twiddled his thumbs lounging on his couch. _I can't believe I told Ruthie to get the fuck off my property and then shoved her down the stairs_, he thought more. _I can't believe I've forced Sarah to leave me again and take our twin sons with her_, he regretted. _I can't believe I drank myself to pass out_. His thoughts were in a never ending cycle as he got up to go to the refrigerator to see if any booze was left. He couldn't help himself; he was beginning to crave the depressant that would take his mind off everything. When he drank all of his problems no longer existed, he could not think. There was no reason to worry.

On his way through the dining room he passed a picture taken last July, before it had all happened. Matt, Sarah, and the boys had been at a local zoo and had gotten their pictures taken next to the giraffe. He picked up the photo and gazed into Sarah's beautiful brown eyes. She was holding Noah, and he Jacob. They looked so happy, _what happened? _Matt knew what happened and he didn't want to think or talk about it.

He heard his sons' laughter in the back of his head; they always would giggle when he would make animal sounds. Their favorite was his elephant impression. Matt sighed in memory of his sons. He had not seen their smile in weeks, he not been able to speak to them or Sarah. Matt knew what he was doing was wrong and he _did _want to seek help, but sadly that would mean he would have to admit he was wrong—and he wasn't sure if he was up to that quite yet.

Matt scoped the refrigerator out for any trace of alcohol or booze, but failed miserably. He dug through the pantry. There was nothing. _"Did Ruthie vaporize all liquor in this house?" _Matt wondered. It was certainly something Ruthie would do. Matt reached in his coat pocket looking for his wallet. He could always go and buy more. Matt fumbled and dug for his wallet which ceased to exist. _"She stole my wallet too?" _Matt gasped to himself. He couldn't believe her! He thought, _"What about my car keys?" _Matt desperately raced to their key hanger, where only their extra set of house keys hung. _"She stole those too, the little thief!" _Matt knew he couldn't stay in this house alone without his liquor; it was too empty, lonely, and depressing. All he had left to do was go for a walk. He didn't care where he ended up.

The cool fall breeze blew his hair around as he walked down the street of their small suburban neighborhood. His hair hadn't been cut in a long time and was due for a good cutting, it reminded him of his teenaged years and when his grandfather told him his hair was too long.

He was walking toward the main town park, which was about a mile straight down the street. The park would be a nice distraction for Matt. Last spring and summer Matt and Sarah had taken the boys there everyday they could get off their internship at the town's hospital. Even though they were working in the same hospital, Matt and Sarah rarely saw each other on the job. Matt had worked in the Obstetrics and Gynecology area, whereas Sarah was working with the kids in the pediatrician wing. She got to see several of his "old" patients for the most part considering how small the town was. They had been in their second year of residency, but now that Matt had been on "leave" he was behind. He worried they would not allow him to come back and his career was shot forever. Even if he did, he would be behind and because of what had happened he would likely be forced to put in another year of residency, because of his previous background he had only been scheduled three years. Now, he figured he would be up to four or five.

Matt lost himself in a train of thought and no longer considered where he was walking or who was seeing him walk. It had been so long since he had been able to _think_. He realized he did not miss thinking; thinking was a distraction which made him feel depressed and lonely. The fact that Sarah had flew with his sons and his thoughts were there made him feel even more depressed.

An hour or so later, Matt didn't really know, he found himself sitting on a park bench. _"How did I get here?" _he wondered. Obviously, he had walked there. It was amazing how when you were thinking how you did stuff unconsciously and didn't remember. Thinking was almost as bad as drinking. Perhaps that was why when he would drink he wouldn't think. Matt smiled to himself in amusement at his own joke.

Coming back to consciousness of his reality around him, he took note to the birds singing. They were singing a pretty tune that Matt couldn't explain. He turned around and saw a squirrel chase another squirrel up a tree. Anytime he saw squirrels or birds playing it reminded him of his brothers and sisters when they were younger. He remembered a time when he was about five, Mary was three, and Lucy was two. Simon and Ruthie hadn't been born yet—which was very hard for him to conceptualize, he couldn't imagine his life now without Simon or Ruthie. It was a warm spring day and Dad had just put up the basketball hoops at Matt's request. At the time, he had "big dreams" of becoming like Michael Jordan. He had spent all day trying to make a basket, but failed miserably. Mary had been whining for him to give her the ball all day so _she _could make a basket. Matt had thought it was quite amusing, after all, she was a three year old _girl _and he was a strong five year old _man_. She had started chasing him, and Matt had tried to climb their tree in the backyard—fortunately Mom had caught him before he actually succeeded, though now Matt doubted he would have actually succeeded. It was a cheesy story, and silly that he had thought he could have climbed a tree with a basketball in hand anyway. Mom had made him give the ball to Mary, who shocked everyone by making her first granny shot into the hoop. They all knew at that time she was destined to be a great basketball player.

Matt took note to others in the park. A group of children about eight were playing on the swings in the distance, a little boy was being pushed by possibly an older brother, and a blonde woman was playing in the sand box. He took a shocking second glance at the woman and her daughter only to see a familiar face, a face he hadn't seen in over seven years. Matt found himself blinking and double and triple checking. _"It can't really be her," _he thought. But it was.

The little girl was a splitting image of her, she had the same shiny blond hair and twinkling blue eyes. Her skin was pale and white. She smiled her mother's smile and even gestured in many of the same ways her mother had. _"Should I go over there?" _Matt wondered, but without answering himself he found himself walking toward Shana and the small girl.

The situation itself was the utmost awkward. He found himself standing staring down at Shana and presumably her daughter as they played in the sand. Shana looked up at him and their eyes met. Her smile moved downward and transformed into a shocked face and she whispered, "Matt?"

"Shana?" he answered, "It's a small world."

She stood up, her daughter still sitting in the sand, "Yes, why yes it is—this is sure awkward."

"It is," Matt agreed, "So, you're living here now?"

"Yeah, Lilly and I just moved here last week—I got a job at the hospital," Shana told him. _It really is a small world._

"Wow, talk about a small world, my wife and I am doing our internships here," Matt laughed.

"I just finished mine last year," Shana laughed, and then she seemed to take note to _my wife _and her smile curved downward, "You're married?"

"Yeah, wait, didn't you get married? Where's … what's his face … Brett, wasn't it?" Matt asked.

Shana sighed, "We did marry, and we seemed to have the perfect marriage. The year after I graduated Lilly was born. We thought having a child would stabilize our already great marriage. After she was born everything went downhill…"

"I'm sorry," Matt immediately responded, "if you need somebody to talk to I'm here."

"You always were so easy to talk to," Shana sighed, "I can't believe that I'm actually talking to you face to face, especially after all this."

"I can't either," Matt agreed gazing into the twinkle in her eyes.

"So, you're married, any children?" Shana asked with a curious tone.

Matt nodded, "We have twin boys."

"Aw, I bet they're adorable—if they look anything like their father—so what are their names?"

"Jacob and Noah, my wife and I decided to follow biblical names—and since Jacob and Noah were both in the old testament we wouldn't be going against her religion, you see, she's Jewish."

Shana laughed, "Why doesn't that surprise me—you always liked women outside your class."

"What is that supposed to mean?" laughed Matt.

"Oh, well, you know—Heather was deaf. I had no decent family…then there was that girl that was blind?"

"She was after you left," Matt accused.

"I was in contact with John for awhile, he filled me in."

_John._ Matt wondered where he and his wife had ended up. That was another friend he had just happened to "lose touch" with. He had far too many friends that he had lost touch with. It was incredibly uncanny how they just "showed up" at random when he was in need, like how he had run into Heather on the plane when he and Sarah were having marital problems.

"So, you said your wife and you are doing your internships at the hospital, right? How come I haven't seen you in the last week? I haven't met any Dr. Camden."

"Oh…well, my wife kept her maiden name—Glass—."

"—Sarah Glass is your wife?"

"Yes, she is."

"Apparently she called in today saying there was some sort of family emergency."

"It's a long story," Matt sighed.

"Apparently we have a lot of catching up to do," Shana smiled, "Do you want to come over to my house? I was just about to take Lilly home, it's time for her afternoon snack—oh, and if you're wondering why I'm not at the hospital, I took this afternoon off to be with my daughter because my ex-husband had some _emergency_—or in other words, he stayed up all last night drinking."

"_Oh crap," _Matt thought. He hoped Shana hadn't left her husband because he had started drinking. "Is that why you left him?" he asked nervously.

"Partly, after Lilly was born he was so stressed out all the time and started turning to alcohol—he became an angry drunk, and I couldn't handle it anymore."

Matt turned away—was this God's "wake up" call for him? He now understood why God had brought Shana back to him. She was his messenger, she was there to make him wake up and smell the roses.

"So are you coming?" Shana asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Matt smiled.

"Your wife won't mind? You could call her and invite her; I'd love to meet her and I certainly don't want to go around hiding anything from her."

"She took the boys out of town for a couple days, and I doubt she'll mind. She's become friends with several of my old girlfriends—well Heather anyway, I'm sure you two will get along great. I'll introduce you two when she returns."

Shana smiled dimly and picked up Lilly.

* * *

_Simon _

"So, when were you planning on telling me?" Cecilia demanded.

"Telling you what?" Simon asked, Cecilia was furious with him. She had overheard pretty much the entire conversation. This hadn't been what he had intended at all. Nonetheless, there was nothing he could do about it. Sandy was probably going to spring her and Aaron into their lives at any minute.

"That you have a child that you've abandoned, obviously," Cecilia huffed.

"First off, I don't know he's even my son," sighed Simon.

"If you did, would you leave me?" Cecilia began to tear up.

"No! I would never leave you, you're the mother of my child _and _my wife," Simon promised.

"Well, this _Sandy _could be the mother of your child too," Cecilia pointed out.

"I'm not married to her."

"Yes, but you slept with her _before _we got married, meaning you knew this child could potentially be yours before you married me. Simon, why would you do that? That's nothing like the Simon I once knew."

"I don't love her. I never loved her," Simon defended himself.

"Then why did you have sex with her? How many times have your parents preached to you that sex was for _married _couples who were in _love_? Simon, I thought you knew better."

"I can't control what I did in the past," Simon sighed.

"But you can control what you do in the future."

"What do you _want _me to do?" Simon demanded.

"Simon, I don't know. I don't want you to leave me, for the sake of your unborn child. You need to find out if this child is yours and if he is you need to support his mother. You need to become involved in his life," Cecilia said.

"I don't want a broken up family, all I've wanted is the type of relationship my parents have and the family they had."

"Simon, you choose to sleep with her, therefore you must suffer the consequences," Cecilia advised.

She was right. He had to man up for all of his mistakes, not just some. When Sandy came, he had to give her the DNA to run against his. If it came back that Aaron was in fact his son, he had to support Sandy in any way possible. He wasn't willing to leave Cecilia, he just couldn't. His love for Cecilia was real. Anything he may have had for Sandy was only lust.

"When is she coming?"

"I don't know, she called yesterday saying she would be here today—so any minute," Simon sighed.

"Well, good, I want to meet her," Cecilia smiled, "Don't worry. We'll get through this Simon. Together."

"You're going to support me?"

"Just as long as you don't lie to me again," Cecilia smiled wrapping her arms around him. "Now what's going on with Matt? You seemed a little upset with him."

"I don't know, he sounded weird. I wonder if he and Sarah are having problems again."

"Hopefully not, maybe I'll make a call to Sarah later on, I haven't talked to her in awhile."

"I didn't know you two talked," Simon laughed, "that shows how much I've been disconnected with my family lately."

"Eh, we have a conversation here and there—she's been giving me advice on motherhood and all."

"You will make a great mother," Simon smiled giving his wife a kiss.

"And you will make a great father, whether you already are one or aren't," Cecilia smiled kissing him back.

"I've been a terrible father already, if Aaron is mine," Simon sighed, "I can't believe I didn't volunteer or ask Sandy if she was sure Martin was the father. I can't believe I allowed her to put Martin through this!"

"It's not all your fault," Cecilia indicated, "She's the one that should have gotten her facts straight from the beginning."

The doorbell rang throughout the entire house. Simon met Cecilia's eyes and nodded as he got up to go answer the door. For the first time in months, his eyes laid on Sandy and little Aaron, who was growing so rapidly. Simon couldn't believe he was already almost two years old.

"Simon," Sandy spoke.

"Sandy."


	8. Confusion

Chapter 8

Confusion

_Kevin_

"Sarah sure didn't look healthy," Mom commented shortly after Sarah had departed from the house, "I hope she and Matt aren't overworking themselves."

"I'm sure they will be just fine," Kevin fibbed in an effort to reassure his mother-in-law. _Well, hopefully, in the end everything will be fine. _He still was in disbelief that Matt was turning to _alcohol_. It all just seemed so out of character for Matt. Kevin could have never guessed he would turn that low. For the longest time, Kevin had thought that Matt was the _sanest _member of the Camden family. Though he had already moved the summer before Kevin had moved in with the Camden family to be near Lucy, ever since they were expecting Savannah, Kevin had felt a brotherly "bond" to Matt. He was always there when he needed advice or reassurance. Regardless, he was having a hard time believing Matt was turning into an _alcoholic. _The minute he got some "alone" time he wanted to call Matt and give him a piece of his own mind.

He was reminded that he had promised Ruthie he would give her Julie's phone number when he got home. _Ruthie knows, that's why she wanted Julie's phone number—she's a recovered alcoholic, she has experience_, Kevin realized. He had to give Ruthie credit; she was exceedingly clever for her age. She would make a great therapist or psychologist.

All of a sudden, Kevin remembered the car in the drive way. "Mom, whose car is in the drive way?"

"Why don't you go ask—?"

"KEVIN?" Lucy's interrupted her mother's answer. Kevin took the hint, and entered their bedroom to see Lucy sitting up high on two pillows. To her right, a familiar blonde woman stood.

"Roxanne?" he mouthed, "I thought you were in Iraq! It's great to see you again."

She half smiled, and said, "I wish I felt the same, I mean, it's great to see you again, I just wish it were under better circumstances."

Kevin raised his eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

Roxanne sighed, sitting down on the edge of Kevin and Lucy's bed and began to explain everything she had told Lucy earlier, "I called Chandler and asked him to come up here, he's on his way."

"_Chandler _took Dad's position?" Kevin seemed in shock, "Wait—what happened to what's her face?"

"Oh, forgot to mention that, I guess it didn't work out. He told me that he was foolish to jump into that relationship and move to Pennsylvania hardly knowing her."

"I see, well, it worked out for me," laughed Kevin as he kissed Lucy.

"Oh come on, you only stuck around for my family," Lucy argued.

"That's not true! I love you," Kevin contradicted.

"You better! I'm the mother of your daughter, and soon to be the mother to your son!"

"So, do you two have any names picked out?" Roxanne questioned.

"Kevin Junior?" Kevin joked.

"I love you Kevin and all," Lucy said, "but I don't foresee having any _Junior_."

"I was just joking," Kevin teased, "I would never want to have a junior either, that would be just too confusing."

"I take that as a no," Roxanne laughed.

"We probably should start discussing it," Kevin agreed.

"We—I—just didn't want to have a name picked out, then something go wrong," Lucy admitted. Lucy had been so worried about something going wrong this time around. Of course, Kevin didn't blame her. He, too, had been nervous about going through this again. Lucy had been afraid to even announce she was pregnant because she didn't want another disappointment. Everyone had been so excited for their twins, then tragedy hit.

Their sappy reunion was interrupted by an adorable little two-year-old. Savannah came running through the door, "Mommy!" She took it upon herself to jump up in the bed next to Lucy and wrap her arms around her mother.

"That reminds me—where's my surprise?" Lucy asked.

"Cuzzies Jakey and Noah here with Auntie Sarah!" blurted Savannah in excitement.

"Sarah's here with the boys?" Lucy's face showed shock as she eyeballed Kevin. "Is Matt here too?"

Kevin gritted his teeth, "No, he was too busy to make it out here—Sarah wanted to surprise us all by bringing the twins out, I guess she had some vacation time or something." _Oh crap, I'm lying big time, _Kevin sighed to himself_, and luckily Savannah doesn't know the whole story. _

"Well that's great! You should invite Sarah and the boys in here to add to our reunion!" Lucy gleamed. This was the happiest Kevin had seen her in a very long time.

"Well, Sarah is feeling a bit under the weather—probably the trip—the boys are out with your mom," Kevin told her.

"Hopefully she and Matt aren't overworking themselves," Lucy indicated. _She's becoming more and more like her mother everyday, _Kevin noted.

"I go get cuzzies!" Savannah cried jumping from her mother's arm and running out of the room. She hadn't even taken note to the stranger in the room—Roxanne, she was so occupied by her cousins being here she didn't seem to care.

"I take it that was your daughter," Roxanne laughed, "she's adorable, looks just like her mother."

"She does," Kevin agreed giving Lucy a kiss on the forehead.

Moments later Savannah returned with one of her cousins holding onto her right and the other on the left. Kevin realized he didn't know which was which. They looked so much alike, though they were not entirely identical. Both twins had curly blond hair and the legendary Camden blue eyes that Savannah too shared.

"Cuzzies!" exclaimed Savannah.

"Aww, they're so big!" Lucy cried. "Matt and Sarah really should make the effort to come home more often with the boys, I don't want the next time I see them to be when they're in elementary, or worse…high school!"

Kevin laughed, "You see your family a lot more than I see mine, I didn't even attend my sister's wedding." _Crap_, he remembered, _she didn't know. _

"Patty Mary got married?" shrieked Lucy, "Why didn't you tell me? I would have gone to her wedding!"

"She got married last fall, I figured it wasn't a good time," Kevin told her. Last fall Lucy had been grieving the loss of their sons, she was in no condition to attend a wedding. He remembered her first sermon back; she had blamed her entire family—in particularly him—for her loss that summer. Kevin had feared what she would have done or said at Patty Mary's wedding.

"That's no excuse!" cried Lucy. "I feel so horrible; I've taken you away from your family. Family is everything."

"Luce, that isn't true—I _choose _to leave Buffalo and my family behind. We were never as close as yours to begin with," Kevin insisted.

"So…how is Reverend Camden?" Roxanne said in an effort to change the subject.

"Fine," Lucy said, "What happened to us going back East one of these years to your parents' for Christmas or something, Kevin?"

"Luce, this isn't the time to discuss this," Kevin whispered.

"It's never the time to discuss anything with you!" Lucy fumed.

"Mommy, what wrong?" Savannah asked. They had all forgotten that the children were in the room. Standing behind them now was their grandmother, she was shaking her finger.

"Lucy, you really shouldn't fight in front of the children," her mother told her. "Your father and I never fought in front of you guys; well, rarely anyway." Everyone in the room just stared at her in silence over the course of the following moments. "Okay…anyway, lunch is ready for anyone who's interested—I'll have a plate brought in for you, Luce."

_Annie_

Several hours passed by and the twins returned from school. She enjoyed every moment of every day with her family. People, particularly their new neighbors, told her that they didn't know how she did it, take care of her sons _and _Lucy's family as well. Many people thought twin boys was a handful, but really, the twins were so easy compared to her other five children. Most of their new neighbors did not know that Annie had gave birth to seven children, after all, Lucy's family, Ruthie, and the twins were the only ones who had been to Crossroads while they were living here. Oh, and Simon. He and Cecilia had made a trip up here a few weeks ago when they announced to them they were expecting, naturally, Annie and Eric had been thrilled.

Since Kevin was home with Lucy, and all was "well" again—they had tranquilized Lucy—Annie had decided to go home, or at least the place she slept at night and the address she gave on the boys' school papers. Home for her would always be in Glen Oak, even though they did not live there anymore.

Kevin, Lucy, and Roxanne were all anxiously waiting for Chandler's arrival. Annie wanted to stay and see Chandler, but she insisted it was best for her to go check in on Sarah. She had been sleeping awhile, and Annie was beginning to get worried about her. Besides, she figured they could sneak back over there later on. She could see Kevin and Lucy's driveway from their house, so she would know when Chandler arrived.

However, it wasn't Chandler's arrival she was truly concerned about. She was concerned about Sarah. Her pallid face and tired eyes had looked seemingly horrific. Her mind kept circling on and on about if there was some horrific reason why she had come. Sure, they had said Matt was ill—she couldn't help but wonder if there was something more.

She packed Sam, David, and her grandsons in her van. Lucy had told her more than once that she was polluting the earth by driving the van down to their house when she could just as easily walk. Nonetheless, she never knew when there might be an emergency and she would have to drive Lucy—heaven forbid—to the hospital. Being seven months pregnant and having had past pregnancy complications, one could never know.

When they returned to the house, she placed set Jacob and Noah in the living room and ordered Sam and David to watch them for a few moments while she went to check on Sarah. She was surprised to hear Sarah's voice when she leaned against the door.

"…Anyway, give me a call—I'm sorry I freaked out on you earlier, you were right…bye."

_Who is she talking to? _Annie wondered, _Are Matt and she having marital problems again? But if they were, why would she come here? Why wouldn't she go to her own parents' house? _It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see Sarah and the boys, she loved them all dearly.

She heard Sarah dialing on the phone again. This time she heard:

"Matt, we need to talk…I don't know where you are, but seeing as the phone is _on _the hook I'm assuming you're up…call me."

_So they are having problems, _Annie came to the conclusion. Her heart began to race as she left the door so Sarah wouldn't know she was listening in her conversation. She put on a fake smile as she went into the living room, not to worry the boys. _They'll work things out. They will, _she told herself. The last thing she wanted was to lose Sarah as a daughter-in-law.


	9. Low

**Another story everyone thought I'd never update…?**

**Author's Note: **When I originally started this, I hadn't seen Season 11 _of 7__th__ Heaven _(which I said at the beginning). Now I have, and I realize my take on Crossroads is completely off. I didn't know that the church was held in session in a bar and that all of the children were foster children—so, this 'fact' from the show is irrelevant in this story. My vision of Crossroads for this story is a small hick religious town that is centered round a small church.

* * *

Chapter 9

Low

Julie

Julie Camden-Hastings let out a deep sigh as she pulled into the driveway of their modern brick manor. It had been yet another long day on the job. She had forgotten how _stressful _a principal's job was. There were: papers, misbehaved students, bickering teachers and secretaries, and more papers. The weight of the school always landed on its principal. Of course, Glen Oak, California was not near as bad as it had been up East. Julie shuddered as she recalled her previous job; what had led her to start drinking.

"Mommy, what is for dinner?" seven-year-old Erica asked from the back seat. Julie had picked the two children up from the after-school program they attended each day. She was so fortunate the program continued until six; Julie couldn't dare escape her position before five o'clock.

Julie sighed again; there wasn't a bone inside of her that felt like cooking. The odds were they wouldn't see a trace of Hank that night either. "How does pizza sound?" Julie asked her two munchkins.

"Yes!" both children screamed.

"I want cheese pizza," five-year-old Nolan declared. "I like cheese." Julie turned around and smiled as the red haired boy patted his belly.

"Okay, kids. I'm going to go change out of these work clothes, and then we'll all go to Pete's Pizza – in the meantime, if you two want to watch a little television, go for it," Julie told her two children.

"Spongebob!" Nolan cried. "We're watching _Spongebob_!"

Julie eyeballed her oldest child whose blue eyes turned pout. The blonde haired child curled her lip, but after being bombarded with her mother's stare she sighed, "Okay. I'll watch Spongebob."

Entering the house, Julie made a run for the stairs. Before she could get half way up the stairs, Erica shouted to her, "Mommy, there's a message on the answering machine!"

Julie sighed. It was probably Hank with some innate reason as to why he wouldn't be home until late that night. Lately, he had been leaving those on her cellular phone. Maybe he had hit the wrong speed-dial button.

"Don't worry about it, Sweetie!" Julie called down to her daughter.

"Okay!" Erica called back.

Julie ripped her suit-jacket off of her body. She ran into the laundry room and fiddled through a pile of colors looking for a T-shirt to wear. Due to her hectic schedule, she was so far behind on the laundry. She barely had a moment to herself. The clothes were scattered all over the laundry room. There were two baskets of clean clothes just dying to reach a dresser or closet. She hated living like this; there was only one other time in her life when she had been this disorganized.

With two kids and a husband who was never home – life wasn't easy. She woke up at five everyday, made breakfast for the kids and Hank when he was home, took Erica and Nolan to the before school program, and was to work by six-thirty each morning. On her lucky days, she was out of the office by five. On the worst days, she didn't get out until nine. On those days, Hank would manage to 'escape' the office to be with the kids. The life of a principal was not easy; with two young children and a gynecologist for a husband it was just that much more complicated.

She pulled a plain yellow T-shirt over her head and forced her butt into a pair of blue-jeans. Her hand ripped out the brown hair piece in her hair. Rapidly, she combed through her hair with her hairbrush. She wiped eyeliner off her face with a rag. Julie hated wearing makeup; it always had a way to run into her eyes producing tears. Nonetheless, in the professional world she felt awkward without it.

There. She was all set. Looking back in the mirror at her was an average, blonde haired, blue eyed middle-aged mother. Her focus aimed toward her the dark circles under her wrinkled eyes. She was tired; she needed a day to rest. Luckily, it was Wednesday – it was the hump day. Saturday was only a blink away.

With that in mind, she pounced down the stairs and walked into the living room. Her two children were sitting nicely together on the couch watching an episode of _Spongebob. _She smiled at the sight of her two children not bickering. They always fought; over television programs, over what was for dinner, over who got the bathroom first. Oh, how she dreaded their teenaged years. She often wondered how her older brother had gotten by raising _seven _children. Of course, his wife had been a stay-at-home mother. Surely that made the world of difference.

"Who's ready for pizza?" Julie asked her children. The two children twisted their heads around as they noticed their mother's presence.

"Me!" Nolan cried.

"So am I!" Erica agreed. "But Mommy, first I think you should listen to the answering machine. I know you told me not to worry, but I couldn't help. It's from Cousin Ruthie."

Julie looked inquisitively at her older child. It was unlike Erica to go against her mother's wishes. Her eyebrows rose. She was aware that Ruthie was attending Princeton University. It had been awhile since Julie had been in contact with her brother's family. She was aware they had moved to a small town where Lucy had been offered a job. She had spoken with Annie shortly before they had departed. Maybe Ruthie was in trouble. Julie's heart began to thump like it were in a race. What if her youngest niece had gotten herself in some trouble she was too embarrassed to talk with about to her parents? There were endless possibilities, and she couldn't blame her if she didn't want to talk to her parents about it. Eric and Annie could be a little tough; she remembered when they had found out about her drinking. Julie's heart raced with worry as she ran over to the answering machine and pressed the _Play _button.

"_Hey Aunt Julie, it's Ruthie – Kevin game me your number. It's about five o'clock here. I guess about two there. I thought maybe you'd be off work by now, but I guess not. I forgot teachers and principals have to work late. Anyway, I don't know if I'll be available when you're off – so I guess I'll just tell you over the phone. This isn't something you'll probably want to get over the answering machine, but I guess I have no choice. It's Matt. I'm worried about him. You see—." _Beep. The answering machine cut off as Ruthie had talked too long causing reading the recording's time limit. Julie stared weary-eyed at the answering machine. _Mattie? What could Matt have done to cause Ruthie to be worried about him? _Her stomach churned as she reached for the phone.

"Mommy, are we still going to pizza?" Nolan tugged at Julie's shirt.

"Hold on," she responded to her son hoarsely. "I need to call your cousin Matt."

She saw her daughter eyeball her brother. "Something's wrong," she whispered. "Mommy, what's wrong?" Erica looked frightened up at her mother.

"I don't know yet, Sweetie," Julie told Erica as she flipped through her notebook for her nephew's number until she found it. Under Matt's name in her book were lots of scribbles. Her eyes focused in on the blue ink that had written out Matt's most recent numbers. The first read: _Matt's cell – 315-555-3311_ and the second read: _Matt and Sarah's home – 315-555-4321. _

First, she decided to try his cell phone. It was her best bet, she figured. He had taken in the steps of her husband and was a gynecologist. Odds were: he wouldn't be home. The phone let out five rings until she heard_, "Hello, you have reached Matt Camden and I'm unavailable right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." _

She let out a sigh. "Matt, it's Aunt Julie. Ruthie left a rather – odd – message on my answering machine. I'm worried about you, give me a call." She sighed and hung up the phone looking at her two children who gazed back with hungry eyes.

"Mommy, can we go eat now?" Nolan asked hopingly.

Julie shook her head. "Not yet."

Rapidly, she dialed Matt's home phone. It rang, rang, and rang until she heard her nephew's voice, _"You have reached Matt" _and Sarah's voice chimed in_, "and Sarah" _and both of their voices spoke_, "And Jacob and Noah – we're not available right now. Leave a message and we'll get back to you."_

She let out a sigh, "Matt – it's Aunt Julie again. Call me, I'm worried about you." She hung up the phone and gazed worriedly at her two children. "Kids, I don't know what is going on here – but your mommy's very worried."

"Maybe you should go to his house," Erica chipped in.

Julie's eyes widened. As ridiculous as her seven-year-old daughter's suggested sounded – somehow, it didn't sound like a bad idea. "Erica," Julie laughed. "Matt lives in New York. That's a five hour flight away."

Erica shrugged, "So. Maybe something is wrong and he needs you. You should go." She suggested.

"_I _just want to eat!" Nolan cried. "Mommy can't fly to New York without feeding us!" Tears started to stream down his face. "I want pizza!" the little boy fussed.

"Oh stop being such a stupid baby!" Erica cried giving her brother a shove. "Matt's in trouble, Mommy needs to go help him."

Nolan began to fuss harder. "Mommy, Erica called me a stupid baby!" He wrapped his arms around Julie's pant legs.

Julie gave a stern look toward her daughter. "Erica, don't call your bother names." The little girl pouted, rolling her eyes. _She's too young for the eye roll, _Julie shivered.

"Mommy, _please _can we go get some pizza?"

"Let's go," Julie nodded, picking up her forty pound son.

"How come you never pick _me _up anymore?" Erica crossed her arms with jealousy.

"Sweetie, you're too big," she explained. Erica gave her mother the eye roll again. _Are we in for a bumpy road or what? _Julie feared.

"Mommy just loves me more," Nolan insisted wrapping his arms around Julie. Erica gave her brother a nasty look. She squint her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

"Nolan, that's not true. I love you both equally," Julie sighed. She set Nolan on the ground and placed her hand on both of her kids' heads. "Come on, I'll go get you guys some pizza."

"What about Matt?" Erica asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I'll call him when we're done eating. He's probably just busy right now," Julie assured her daughter.

At Pete's Pizza, the three of them shared one large cheese pizza. The kids wouldn't eat anything except cheese. Even though Julie would much rather have toppings, she never found the sense in paying extra for another pizza.

As she chewed her pizza, Julie's mind wandered. She thought of her eldest nephew. He had always been there for her when she was battling with alcoholism. She remembered a time shortly after she had been discharged from the treatment program. He had managed to find her, track her down, and check in on her. Over the years, she had watched him grow into a mature, caring man – just like his father. She couldn't imagine what he could have done to make Ruthie worry about him.

She couldn't take it anymore. Her pizza wasn't even half eaten and she found herself fiddling in her purse for her cell phone. Why hadn't Ruthie called her cell phone? Her cell phone sat on her desk at work at all times in case of emergency. Seconds later, she realized Kevin and Lucy didn't have her new cell phone. All along, she had been meaning to call the family up in Crossroads and give it to them. Time passed and her busy schedule resulted in her forgetting.

Once again, she dialed Matt and Sarah's home phone. She received no answer. Again, she dialed Matt's cell phone number. There was no answer. Her heart dropped. _Something isn't right. _

She looked into her kids' eyes, both looking worriedly back at her. Something was wrong, and they knew it too. She let out a sigh. "Come on kids, we have to get going – you can take your pizza with you."

* * *

Matt

His nose inhaled the lukewarm soothing black coffee. Shana always did know exactly how he liked it. His body tingled in a way it hadn't in years. Years had passed since he had sat face to face with her. The moment itself felt surrealistic.

It wasn't. She was sitting directly across the table from him next her little girl. His eyes focused in on the knife she was holding to cut her daughter's apples. _She stabbed my heart, _Matt remembered. He sighed, remembering only a week before he had met, went out, and married Sarah he had called her. She had told him to move on… and he did.

He found himself asking himself daily if he had made the right decision. His stomach pained to think his father had been right. Regardless, he would never admit his father's rightness and his wrongness.

Marriage was definitely not all fun and games. He had come to realize that in his second year of medical school and marriage. The first year still had its sparks; after that spring it all went downhill. Something about Sarah changed after their first pregnancy scare. After she had returned from Florida, she kept her distance from him for several weeks. When she finally came around, something still didn't seem right.

After they had started their on the job training, everything started to go downhill. He had started to question if he really wanted to be a doctor; driving Sarah up the wall. Shortly after, she started to accuse him of having an affair with a nurse. She had left him and moved in with another _male_ classmate. Later, she had admitted she was trying to make him jealous. She swore they hadn't done anything – but sometimes he wasn't sure if he could believe her.

Even though she bugged him, he loved her with all of his heart. Every time she would smile or laugh, he felt warm inside. Of course, it had been some time since he had seen her smile. But what he loved most about her: she was the mother of his sons. He adored those boys. The thought of losing them made him feel dead inside.

"Are you okay Matt?" Shana asked uncertainly.

Matt blinked several times in a row. He realized he had been staring off into the space. A drip of sweat started to travel down his forehead. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Like I said, I've just been recovering from an illness. Sorry if I'm still a little spacey."

Shana smiled and laughed a little. "That's okay. Are you sure you still don't have a fever? You do look a little clammy." She stood up and walked over towards him and placed her hand on his forehead. Her hand felt like an iceberg against his warm skin. "You do feel warm," she stated. "But not feverish. What _illness _have you had? I would hate for you to be exposing my daughter."

"I _had _the flu, but my fever's been gone over twenty-four hours," Matt assured. "Do you actually think I would have come home with you and knowingly expose you?" He looked into her deep blue eyes with compassion.

She smiled weakly. "I guess not." Her eyes focused over towards Lilly. Lilly was quietly chewing one of the apple bites her mother had cut for her. Shana took the seat next to Matt and crossed her right leg over her left. Turning to Matt, she asked, "So how old are your boys?"

"They're fourteen months," he answered proudly. "I have pictures in my wallet—" He reached for his pocket and remembered _Ruthie_. "—I seem to have forgotten by wallet at home." He felt his cheeks blush.

"That's okay," Shana laughed. "Like I said, I would love to meet them." She added quickly, "And your wife. I'm sure she's lovely. How long have you been married?"

He found himself laughing a little. "Funny you should ask. Our original anniversary is on February 16th 2002."

She looked at him inquisitively. "_Original? _And isn't that the Valentine's Day I told you to—."

"—Move on."

She started laughing uncontrollably. Lilly dropped her apple and looked up at her mother. "Momma funny!" she giggled. Matt felt his face become warmer.

"I'm sorry," Shana finally said, taking a deep breath. "That—wow, you went out and got _married _two days after I told you to move on?" Matt nodded, raising his eyebrows. "Well, I see you took my advice. Good. Now I'm _really _excited to meet your wife."

He looked at her blankly then glanced at his wrist expecting to read the time off of his watch. Of course, he wasn't wearing a watch. He scoffed and looked to the wall. The big hand was on the three and the small hand was approaching the six. It was already three-thirty. He found himself standing up, shoving the chair in. Matt turned to Shana. "Look," he said, "I should probably get going."

Shana's eyes widened. "Oh Matt, don't leave. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. Please, stay. It's time for Lilly's nap and you and I still have a lot of catching up to do."

He sighed and sat back down. Something felt wrong, but yet it felt right at the time. "Okay," he smiled weakly. "We do have a lot of catching up to do."

She had him sit in the living room while she put Lilly down. When she returned, she sat next to him and crossed her right leg over her left. She murmured, "So."

"So," Matt repeated. "Are you still in contact with Heather?"

She nodded vibrantly. "Yeah, we talk over the internet a lot – she's been especially helpful with me and the whole _Brett _situation. You know, she went through a divorce just a few years ago herself?"

Matt nodded, his face burnt a little. He remembered his run-in with Heather three springs ago. Back when he had Sarah had been having problems. He remembered very clearly. "Yeah, I heard."

"Oh, that's right. You said that Sarah and Heather had become friends – I guess I should have taken the hint that you have been in contact with her," Shana noted.

He nodded. "Yeah, we've been in contact." Though, he hadn't talked to her since recent events.

They talked for hours, until they were interrupted by a little girl screaming for her mommy. She had told him more than he needed to know. She told him every detail about Brett. He had been handsome, funny, kind, caring, and loving then suddenly _bam _everything went downhill. Matt's stomach turned upside down as she explained how brutal their relationship had become. The last straw had been when Brett had hit Shana. She had packed her bags right then and there, taking Lilly, and was gone. Shana had opted to avoid custody disputes. They were still married, but separated. Shana feared that a judge would look into her own abuse history then rule that Brett – even though a drunk – had a safer environment. Also, she feared if Brett's mother found out about the current situation she would fight for custody of Lilly. She didn't want to take that chance. Brett had never laid a hand on Lilly. Shana had promised him that if he _did_, she would file for divorce faster than he could say the word. For the time being, they had agreed to lay low and keep their families out of it. Brett would pick Lilly up from the sitter at noon every day in order to save Shana some hours. She worked in the rehabilitation wing, helping those who were recovering from surgeries and injuries. On most _days _he was sober – it was at night he turned into the monster from_ Thriller_. He had been fired from his physical therapy job and was now working an Internet job taking surveys. She thought he was pathetic, but he actually did make enough money to support his own self and pay her for Lilly's new clothes.

"Mommy I hungry!" were the first words out of Lilly's mouth. It was just after five. Matt felt a rumble in his own stomach.

"It is her dinner time," Shana informed Matt. "We could go get some pizza. There's this pizza place nearby we went to the other day. Lilly really liked it. Would you like to come along with us?" She asked almost sounding hopeful. Matt felt a vibe that she was enjoying his company. What would she think once she found out about _why _Sarah had taken the boys?

"Sure," he shrugged. She drove them out to a pizza place Matt and Sarah had driven past almost everyday for a year. They had never taken the time to stop at it, though they had talked about it before.

Shana ordered a small cheese pizza for Lilly and a large Supreme for Matt and herself. "I can't eat plain cheese," Shana laughed. Matt nodded, he remembered. She liked her pizza with the works.

After they got their pizza and started eating Shana said, "So – I've shared my recent life – what about you? You're married with two boys. How old are they? I don't think you told me."

Matt forced a weak smile. "They are fourteen months. How old is Lilly?"

"She'll be two in November… twenty-two months," Shana told him. "She was born just a little over a year after I graduated NYU in spring 2004."

"They'll be in the same grade," Matt observed. He took note to Shana's eyebrow raise. He let out a sigh, "Shana…I should tell you something."

"Oh? What would that be?" Shana asked as she wiped some pizza sauce off of Lilly's face.

"It's about why Sarah really took the boys out of town and called in a _family emergency today…_" he trailed as he went into depth; beginning with the tragic event that had led up to the present day situation. She stared at him attentively and listened. Her eyes widened with shock when he explained his encounter with alcohol. When he finished, she looked like a corpse staring back at him. "Say something," he begged, clasping onto his fists.

"Wow, Matt," was all she said as she pulled Lilly out of her chair. "You left your sons alone and hungry? You drove your wife to leave you? And then Ruthie – wow – that's what baffles me the most. Matt, I can't picture you ever physically hurting anyone." She was as white as a ghost. "I-I feel for Sarah. You need to check yourself into a rehabilitation center. In fact, I'm going to drive you to one right now. That's where I took Brett today when I found him in the condition he was."

"What?" Matt spat. He went into a rage, "You see – Brett and me – totally different people. I-I'm not an alcoholic. I've only drank a few times. I swear, and I'm sober now…and believe me, I've learned my lesson. I'm never going to drink again. I'm going to go home, call my wife, and everything is going to be okay."

She glared at him with uncertain eyes. "If that were the case… why did you leave your house when Ruthie confiscated your bottles? Why didn't you call Sarah? Why are you telling me all of this? Matt…"

He let out a sigh.

"Matt, remember when you told me about your Aunt Julie?"

He stared at her coldly and his heart stopped. A memory eleven years old filled through his head. He remembered vividly that Thanksgiving his aunt had come to share with them. _"Like one little beer is going to turn me into a werewolf," _his aunt's words tingled in his head. _"What's one little beer? It's nothing."_ He had refused to get it for her.

"_If it's nothing, then you don't need it…" _he had told her.

"_Help me… help me…" _his Aunt Julie had begged.

"_I think I am,"_ Matt had responded.

"_You're just like your father, you spineless little brat! I hate you! I hate you! I'll never forgive you for this, Matt! Never!" _his aunt's scream still rang in his head.

_I'm not that bad, _he told himself. He didn't need alcohol to survive – he could quit just like _that_. Like a flick of a finger. _I'm not an alcoholic, _he told himself. He looked up with confident eyes at Shana. She held Lilly in one arm and her car keys in her other hand. Her now sad blue eyes looked worriedly into his. _No…_Matt told himself_, I haven't stooped that low… _

_

* * *

_**Credits: **_The Last Call for Aunt Julie_; Season 1_ |Nobody Knows; _Season 3 [when Julie returns and Matt comes to her house](allusion, thanks aarent)

I also alluded to Michael Jackon's _Thriller. _


	10. Stolen

Author's Note: Oh gosh, I can't believe it's been over a year since I've updated this. Forgive me, and I'm not expecting you to remember what's happened already. Re-read if you want, or try to remember based off this chapter, or if you must, close this window and roll your eyes at me. As it turns out, I had written most of this last July (2011). Nonetheless, I know exactly how I want this to end, and it shouldn't be too many more chapters, it's just getting the time to actually write and finish this.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! :) (If you're still reading this far, anyway!)

* * *

Chapter 10

Stolen

Mary

Her face was hot with fury. She was done, once again. She just couldn't take Carlos's constant criticism. Everything she did was wrong. If it weren't him, it was her neighbors, or her family. And then her family wondered why she never contacted them. She could never do anything right.

She couldn't get through a conversation with her sisters, brothers, or father without receiving a long, worthless lecture. The only person who pretended to understand her was her mother, but even Mary knew that her mother was only pretending.

Annie Camden pretended to care for her and to understand her. But really, Mary had no doubt that her mother was talking behind her back. There wasn't a thing her parents didn't talk about. And Mary just couldn't see her parents arguing.

Mary had always known her father hated her. She had figured it out back in her pre-school days. Lucy had always been his favorite, and that was why Lucy had become so emotional. She cried when she didn't get her way because when she was small, Daddy always gave her what she wanted; even if it meant neglecting his oldest daughter.

The only ones in her family who had ever truly understood her were the Colonel and Grandma Ruth. And that was where she was going. Her grandfather had tried to tell her not to go back with Carlos, but she had not listened. With going back to school, she needed a support system—and Carlos was the father of her son.

She couldn't have known that she was going to end up getting pregnant within a month of moving back with Carlos and Charlie. At the time, she had been taking online classes, moving swiftly toward her bachelor degree in education.

Looking at Jenny and Crissy, she did not regret having them. Having twins and having a pre-school-aged child had been a challenge, but it was also a joy. Mary only felt bad that they had to have such a douchebag for a father.

Carlos always had to make her look like the bad one. Her grandparents had told her everything he had told her parents. He had made it look like she had just gotten up and "left" her responsibilities for no reason.

Her dream had been to go to Chicago and attend college at Northwestern University. Carlos had only argued with her, protesting that it was best that they stayed in New York; it was best for little Charlie.

She couldn't disagree more. Raising a child in New York City was not the best for him. While she understood that Chicago wasn't the best city, either; she would rather have her son in the Midwest opposed to the Northeast.

But no, Carlos couldn't see that.

That was not why she had left him, though. The worst had come one day when she had come home from a long, tiring shift at the airlines. It was eleven o'clock at night, and she had expected to come home to see her husband and son in bed. She hadn't called in advance, assuming Carlos and Charlie were in bed.

She was clueless to what she would be walking in to.

Slowly, she had cracked the door to their apartment open, trying not to wake anyone. As it turned out, her efforts had been worthless. The room was dark, but the television was blaring. Curiously, she switched the light by the door on.

A loud scream had screeched in her ears as her husband, holding her child, and a strange woman jumped off the couch. Carlos was wearing his long johns, and Charlie was wide awake.

Mary didn't recognize the woman, but she was wearing only a tank top and shorts, and her face was covered with make-up. Mary could tell that her husband was not having any business meeting.

"_Mary, I can explain,"_ her husband had insisted. But she did not give him the chance. She had twirled around, caught a taxi to the nearest airport, and was off.

She and Carlos hadn't spoken about the incidence since.

With memories flooding from the past, Mary continued to pile her daughters' belongings into the suitcase until it was stuffed. She tried to fit as much as she could, as she knew she would be taking the girls for good.

And it wasn't that she didn't want Charlie too. For one, she knew she could never handle three children at once. For two, Charlie was so close to his father. Half of the time Charlie didn't listen to her, which made matters difficult. He needed to be with his father.

It saddened Mary that her son was turning out to be just like her husband, but he was Daddy's little boy. The best she could do was take preventative action so her daughters wouldn't take similar footsteps. They needed to far, far away from the man who called himself their father.

She knew there was only one place she could go; there was only one person she could turn to in this situation, and it wasn't her grandparents. He was the only one she could vent to. For hours he had listened to her rant about Carlos. After it all, he had tried to convince her not to go back with Carlos, and to move in with him. Stupidly, she had turned down the offer.

Over the years, she had thrown away every chance she had had with him, and there had been a lot. They were destined to be together. Why couldn't she just see and accept that? For the longest time she had always pictured that he would be the one she married. Yet, there was always something being thrown in her way. In recent years it had been Carlos, the father of her three children.

She frantically snapped the suitcase shut, having to put all of her weight on the suitcase to get it to close because of how full it was. Taking a deep breath, she swung around. Carrying the heavy suitcase, she rushed to the living room. Immediately, she noticed something was not right.

Carlos was not there, and neither were her children.

"Okay, Carlos, where the hell are you?" she growled, setting the suitcase down and running into the kids' room. He was not there. She ran into the empty kitchen. A rush of panic started to flow through her veins.

Leaving the door to the apartment open, she raced out of the apartment and went outside, looking for their car.

The cold New York wind rushed against her face as a drip of water splashed on her forehead. When she saw the empty parking space where her car had once been parked, her heart dropped to the floor. _He kidnapped them. Carlos kidnapped the kids._

Instantly, she grabbed her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed _9-1-1_.

"You have reached 9-1-1, what is your emergency?"

She took a deep breath. "You have to help me, my children have been kidnapped." Tears started to rush out of her eyes as she turned around, rushing up the stairs to her apartment. "My husband took them, and I don't know where he's taking them. Please help!" Her voice cracked as she broke down into tears.

"Calm down, Miss. What is your address?"

She gave the operator her address.

"Is there any reason to believe that your husband would harm your children?"

She closed her eyes as she built up the strength to respond. "Yes," she answered, "he's threatened to kill them. Please help me! My babies are in mortal danger!"

Carlos

Four hours had passed since he had taken the children. His fifteen-month-old daughters each lie in one of his arms. Their eyes were shut. Finally, they had drifted off to sleep. In the seat next to him, his son's head had fallen against Carlos's shoulder, as the little boy had nestled into a deep sleep.

He glanced at his cell phone, which had remained silently on his knee. The phone had shut itself off, indicating that its battery had died. Carlos couldn't remember when he had last looked at his cellular device. He had no way of knowing when it had died.

They'd been in the air for over three hours now, so he couldn't receive any phone calls. Nonetheless, he had expected that Mary would attempt to call him, demanding he bring the children back. There wouldn't be a way to know if she had until they landed. But he'd forgotten his phone charger back in New York, so he had no way of charging his phone.

He was sure that she was looking for him. That was why he had made sure to pay for the airplane tickets with all the cash he had on him. He didn't want Mary following him to California. His whole purpose of flying west had been to get away from Mary. He didn't need her following him there.

Otherwise, he knew, that she would never think to look in California for him. If anything, she would expect him to fly to Puerto Rico, where his actual family was. Never in a million years would she think he would run off to her parents.

He also knew that he was safe in California because Mary would never call her parents. She had tried her best over the last years to cut off all contact with them. That didn't stop her mother from prying into Mary's life.

Carlos knew that there was much more to Annie's flying out to New York to "help" Mary with the new babies. He and Mary were more than capable of handling the youngsters. Besides, Annie hadn't offered her help to Matt and Sarah, who were just as busy, especially with beginning their residency.

No, Annie had wanted to be close to Mary. After all the years Mary had cut her parents out of her life, Annie wanted to make up for all that lost time. And she knew that Mary would never willingly give her information unless Annie took it upon herself to fly out to New York. Neither Mary nor Carlos had been expecting Annie's visits. She had shown up unannounced, insisting she was there to "assist" with the babies.

Her motives all seemed well, but Carlos knew there was more to her arrival.

He stroked his daughters' hair gently. It had been almost ten months since they had seen their grandmother. The girls were growing so much, and so was Charlie. Carlos only wished they didn't have to have Mary as their mother.

Of course, what was he supposed to do? Mary could be the kindest, sweetest person. She could also be the biggest bitch in town, and she was prone to jumping to conclusions.

Carlos remembered the time his co-worker had called him, requesting that he come pick her up.

Mary had gone insane, accusing him of having an affair. Though, Carlos knew in recent months Carlos hadn't become much better. With every phone call Mary received, he would jump to conclusions. As much as she drove him insane, somehow he still managed to love her, otherwise he would have left her so long ago, and he wouldn't have gotten back together with her.

But mostly, he was afraid that she'd be the one to leave him and take the children. The thought was mortifying. Carlos lovingly looked at his three slumbering children, and he couldn't imagine losing any of them. He couldn't imagine his son and daughters sitting on another man's lap.

Carlos knew that Mary had contacted an ex-boyfriend of hers. There had been a strange number on the phone bill a few months ago, so Carlos had called the number. The man, Robbie, had indicated that he used to date Mary, but that was all. When Carlos interrogated him, Robbie had told Carlos that he and Mary were just "friends," and would never be nothing more.

Regardless, Carlos hadn't believed him, and he told Robbie to never call their number again.

Mary's and his marriage certainly hadn't been a cakewalk, and sometimes Carlos regretted getting back with her. He had only considered meeting with Mary that night for Charlie's sake. Sex had been the last thing on his mind, but somehow Mary always managed to seduce him. Nine months later the twins were born. And he loved those girls with all his heart.

The captain came over the speaker and announced that they were landing, and that all passengers should put on their seat belts. Carlos's and Charlie's seatbelts were still intact, as they had hadn't moved since getting on the plane. He held onto the twins tightly and prepared for landing.

Both girls were still asleep when the plane landed. Charlie had woken up.

"Where are we, Daddy?" the little boy whined and rubbed his eyes.

"Don't worry, baby. We're going to go see Grandma and Grandpa Camden."

Carlos stood up and motioned Charlie into the isle. He made sure to keep an eye on the little boy, ensuring he didn't get lost with the crowd of people. Fortunately, the plane was nowhere near full.

His shoulders were aching as he walked through the airport terminal.

"Stay close, Charlie," Carlos instructed his son. Charlie walked close to his father.

When they got out of the terminal and began walking toward the front of the airport—since they had no luggage—Carlos realized something. He couldn't call any Camdens to come and pick them up since his phone was dead. Also, just in case Mary had called the police, he had to be careful not to talk to any security guards.

That was when Carlos recognized a face in the distance. She had aged slightly since the last time he'd seen her. But even with the wrinkles around her eyes, her blue eyes were recognizable anywhere. Carlos knew that she was related to the Camdens.

Her eyes lit up when she met his. He knew that she'd recognized him. She began running towards him, and that was when she realized she had two young children with her. The girl had blonde hair like her, and the boy had orange-red hair.

"Carlos, right?" she asked, breathing heavy. "You're married to my niece Mary."

"Yes, that's correct." He nodded, a little speechless. This had to be a huge coincidence.

"Well, talk about coincidences!" she cried. She shook her head, and that was when Carlos saw the worry in her eyes. Something was wrong, but what? He could tell that she wasn't here regarding Mary and him.

"So, what brings you guys to the airport today? Are you catching a flight?" he asked her.

"Actually, maybe we're not. Now, I'm hoping you can shed some weight off my chest."

He lifted an eye brow. "Well, I can try, but I can't make any promises."

"You live in New York, right?" she asked. He nodded. "Well," she continued, "have you heard from Matt or Ruthie lately?"

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I haven't." Her eyes showed disappointment, and then he remembered something Mary had claimed earlier. "Though, Mary said something about maybe talking to Sarah last night. But she didn't say about what, I'm sorry."

He knew that it was for the plane tickets, which meant Sarah and Matt had probably gone on a last minute trip, likely California to see the family. Though, that didn't coincide with anything Sarah had told him the last time they'd spoken. He didn't know, so he wasn't going to say anything else to Eric's sister.

"That's unfortunate. I guess I'm going to have to make a trip out there tonight. You see, I received a weird phone call from Ruthie tonight…and I think Matt might be in trouble."

Carlos lifted a brow. "What kind of trouble? And plane tickets are expensive, maybe you should just wait it out. Hey, I'm sure everything's fine! Matt is a busy guy."

"Too busy to talk to his aunt?" the woman said sharply. "I don't think so. Besides, I have three days of vacation time I can use from work. It's a long overdue visit."

"Oh, hey, if that's what you want, it's up to you. But don't the children have school?" Carlos looked at the two small children: they were definitely school-aged.

"Right, I was about to call my husband to come pick them up. Hey, I suppose you're here to go out and see the Camdens, right? Is someone coming to pick you up?"

"Well…actually, it was going to be a surprise visit," Carlos admitted, "but my phone died, so I can't call Kevin or anyone to come and get us."

"Well. How convenient. How would you like to take my van? You could take Erica and Nolan with you. They haven't seen their cousins in a while, and I'll call Hank and he can come pick them up whenever is convenient for him. That'll work better."

"Um…sure, if you want to give me your keys."

She handed him the car keys. "There you go," she smiled. She gave the boy and a girl each a hug and said, "Be good, kids. I'm off to New York to see your cousin, and I'll see you kids in a couple days."

"Okay, Mommy. Say hi to Matt for me!" Erica smiled.

Nolan didn't look so happy. A tear started to dribble down his face. "But, Mommy, I don't know this strange guy!"

"You'll be fine, Nolan. He's your cousin's husband. Don't worry. I'll call you later, okay?"

"But, Mommy…"

Julie left, leaving Carlos with two more children who he didn't know.

His face burned and he didn't know what to do. This was just all-too weird. First, he made sure Charlie was still standing next to him. When he saw that he was, he realized both of the girls were awake, fortunately they were quiet. Next, he turned to the girl and said, "Erica, honey, can you show me where your mom's car is?"

"Follow me!" she chimed, and Carlos did, with Charlie still hovering close to him and Nolan sticking close to his older sister.


End file.
